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The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important in the world with approximately 65,000 and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well as more modern graphic works, photographs and architectural drawings. Apart from the graphics collection the museum has acquired, on permanent loan, two significant collections of Impressionist and early 20th-century art, some of which are on permanent display. The museum also houses temporary exhibitions. The museum had 360,073 visitors in 2020, down 64 percent from 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but still ranked 55th in the list of most-visited art museums in the world. The Art Newspaper, March 30, 2021
The collection was created by Duke Albert with the Genoese count Giacomo Durazzo, the Austrian ambassador in Venice. In 1776 the count presented nearly 1,000 pieces of art to the duke and his wife Maria Christina (Maria Theresa's daughter). Count Durazzo, who was the brother of Marcello Durazzo, the Doge of Genoa – "wanted to create a collection for posterity that served higher purposes than all others: education and the power of morality should distinguish his collection...." In the 1820s Archduke Charles, Duke Albert and Maria Christina's foster son, initiated further modifications to the building by Joseph Kornhäusel, which affected mostly its interior decoration. After Archduke Charles, his son Archduke Albert then Albrecht's nephew the popular Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen lived in the building.
In early 1919, the new socialist government of Austria confiscated, without compensation, both the building and the collection belonging to the Archduke Friedrich and evicted him. In 1920 the collection of prints and drawings was united with the collection of the former Imperial court library. In 1921 the building was renamed The Albertina. In March 1945, the Albertina was heavily damaged by USAAF bomb attacks. The building was rebuilt in the years after the war and was completely refurbished and modernized from 1998 to 2003. Modifications of the exterior entrance sequence, including a distinctive roof by Hans Hollein were completed in 2008, when the graphics collection finally reopened. In 2018, the Albertina acquired the Essl Collection of 1,323 contemporary artworks, including pieces by Alex Katz, Cindy Sherman, Georg Baselitz, Hermann Nitsch, and Maria Lassnig.
On 27 May 2020, "Albertina modern" opened as a new museum for modern art. The collection of Albertina modern encompasses over 60,000 works by 5,000 artists. The Albertina Klosterneuburg opened in April 2024 and displays post-1945 works.
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