Graphics

In the early years of the museum, the collection of graphics and works on paper – mainly views – were kept in folders in the library, where visitors could leaf through them. It was not until the museum’s re-opening in 1967 that this department received its own storage facility with a systematically registered inventory. Following the example of the Albertina, the collection was reorganised by Franz Fuhrmann and Otto Kunz. Since then, the collection and the exhibition space have grown substantially. In 1983, the collection was separated from the library and given its own curator.

Since, unlike comparable institutions, there were no existing collections to draw upon, the number of works on paper created before the museum’s founding is relatively limited. The strength of the collection lies in its views of Salzburg, ranging from rare examples from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to Baroque engravings and countless souvenir pictures. Besides the topographic focus, which of course includes the Salzburg region with classic tourist locations such as Bad Gastein and Zell am See, local artists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries make up the major part of the collection. The range of Salzburg art is covered by extensive bequests up to the present day. In addition to prominent names like Makart and Faistauer, Rudolf Hradil has recently been added. A collection of plans, largely identical to the archive of the Laschenzky family of master builders, is of great importance for research into the city’s architectural history.

The gaps in the collection of ‘old views’ are relatively small, so that a stronger focus can be placed on art prints. One of the more difficult gaps in the collection is the period of Salzburg’s artistic discovery in the early nineteenth century. An important priority is the ongoing expansion of the collection to include works by contemporary artists.

Graphic collections are veritable treasure troves of Salzburg’s art and culture. They contain delicate works that can only be exhibited under limited conditions and usually for short periods. To meet the many loan requests, we respond – depending on the planned duration – with high-quality facsimiles and reproductions of the originals.