23 April 2025  Just Before the Ballot, a City Seen AnewIn the final days before Vienna's municipal and district council elections on April 27, 2025, the Heidi Horten Collection released press materials for its new focus exhibition "Wien, Wien, nur du allein". The timing is notable: while the city's political future is being publicly debated, the exhibition opens just three days after the elections, on April 30, offering an artistic counter-narrative to the city's political discussions. It turns the lens—both literal and figurative—on how Vienna has been seen, depicted, and imagined over two centuries. Far from being political, the show embraces a broader understanding of the urban environment, one shaped by aesthetics, memory, and artistic observation. And yet, it quietly echoes themes central to civic life—how Vienna grows, what remains, and what vanishes under the weight of change.Three Visions of ViennaThe exhibition brings together three artists who, though separated by time, share a common subject: Vienna and its surroundings.Balthasar Wigand (1770–1846), working during the Biedermeier period, produced finely detailed watercolors—many no larger than a few centimeters—which he mounted on ornate objects like mother-of-pearl boxes and personal accessories. These views, more atmospheric than accurate, formed a popular image of Vienna in the early 19th century and were sought-after souvenirs during events like the Congress of Vienna. Rudolf von Alt (1812–1905), son of Jakob Alt, developed a freer, more observational watercolor technique. His works range from sweeping urban panoramas to intimate scenes of daily life and mark the transition from Biedermeier serenity to the modern city in flux. Unlike Wigand, whose scenes are carefully arranged, Alt embraced spontaneity—sunlight flickers, people move, and places feel lived in. Stefan Oláh, the contemporary voice in this triad, offers a precise photographic response to the historical images. Since 2015, he has revisited many of the locations depicted by Wigand and von Alt, capturing what remains, what has changed, and what the modern city chooses to forget. His images are deliberately unfiltered—no retouching, no digital enhancement. They show Vienna as it is, often framed by construction, routine, and overlooked corners. Juxtapositions Across TimeThe defining curatorial approach of "Wien, Wien, nur du allein" is juxtaposition. Historical works are placed side by side with contemporary photographs, not for contrast alone, but to invite a shared gaze across eras. This visual dialogue is more than comparison; it's a way of thinking about Vienna as a continuous, evolving presence—one shaped by memory and marked by time. Visitors will encounter classic views—St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Gloriette at Schönbrunn, the Karlskirche—seen first in watercolor, then again through Oláh's lens. These are not nostalgic images; they are thoughtful reflections on change. What happens to a place when its façade stays but its context shifts? What do we lose in modernization—and what might we gain? The exhibition also includes views that are less monumental but equally telling: residential courtyards, lightwells, old factory buildings. These "non-iconic" places, often missed in the city's self-image, gain presence here. In them, the layering of Vienna's past and present becomes tangible.A Thread Between ErasAmong the many artifacts on display, one object quietly stitches the exhibition's themes together: a sewing kit from around 1820, adorned with miniature watercolor views by Balthasar Wigand. One of the vignettes features the Spinnerin am Kreuz (Spinner at the Cross)—a Gothic column that still stands along today's Triester Straße. A popular subject in Wigand's work, this landmark was often chosen by travelers as a symbolic farewell or welcome point to Vienna. Its name recalls a legend: a woman, whose husband was taken to war, spun thread at this spot every day until his return—her patience and fidelity immortalized in stone. For collectors of the time, such scenes weren't just picturesque—they were emotional keepsakes, stitched with memory and place. While not the focus of the exhibition, this delicate item—small, portable, and beautiful—captures the essence of the show. It is a memory you can hold in your hand, a personal link to the city. Just like Oláh's camera or Alt's brush, it preserves a view, a feeling, a place.And so, from sewing kits to shutter clicks, this exhibition reminds us that cities aren't built only in stone and policy. They are woven—thread by thread—through how we see them, remember them, and carry them with us. In that sense, Vienna is not only a city on a map, but a tapestry of images, knotted through time, reaching from the heart of Europe into the pockets and memories of the world. Image: Balthasar Wigand, Sewing kit, ca. 1820. Heidi Horten Collection. Photo: © kunst-dokumentation.com. A mother-of-pearl sewing kit adorned with miniature watercolors, including a view of the Spinner at the Cross. The compact object combines fine craftsmanship with images of place and time. |