THE BELVEDERE

I set aside an entire post on the Belvedere - Vienna because it is probably my favorite among the many places we visited on our Educational Field Trip.  Do spend some time at the links given because I cannot begin to cover all of the great art housed at the Belvedere.  First, as you can see, it is a magnificent building, with two baroque palaces and lovely gardens. 

As we entered the grand foyer, there was a wedding couple being photographed at the top of these stairs - turns out that the Belvedere is open for wedding celebrations.  Pretty special place I would say!



There are so many wonderful pieces of art at the Belvedere that it is nearly impossible to do justice to the collection - so I will simply post a few items that are among the hundreds by artists such as Klimt, Shiele, and others of the Viennese Secession, Schindler, Monet, Manet, Renoir, and Messerschmidt to name just a few, and the collections from the medieval to contemporary.  Again visit this link to get the feeling for the entirety of the collections.  So we will begin with possibly the most recognizable painting, The Kiss by Klimt.



The Belvedere collection of Gustav Klimt's work is the largest and demonstrates the breadth of his styles, going far beyond the style of The Kiss, Judith and Judith II -Salome.  Klimt's work can be seen at this Artsy site and at the  Virtual Klimt Museum.

Allee im Park von Schloss Kammer 1912

Lebensbaum II



The works of Egon Shiele are also very fascinating, and here are three of his paintings. {they seem to have disappeared}

Verleger Eduard Kosmack - 1910

Sonnenblumen I - 1911





Tod und Mädchen - 1915

Two pieces by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt.



Here is Napoleon am Großen St. Bernhard by Jacques-Louis David - 1801

And to close, a Vincent van Gogh - Ebene von Auvers - 1890

If you travel to Vienna, do not miss the Belvedere.