From Vermeer to Klimt. Highlights of two museums — Kunsthistorisches and Leopold Museum — with an art historian | Tickets included

Vienna is one of Europe's great cultural cities and as such has art collections featuring the most important masterpieces by Vermeer, Velasquez, Raphael, Bruegel, Rembrandt and many others. At the turn of the century, Vienna was also one of the centres of Modernism in Europe. The Viennese Secession and its protagonists Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka were the brightest representatives of Art Nouveau, who created their works in the intense intellectual and social life of this society. On this tour you will see the highlights of two of the most important collections in Vienna - the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Fine Arts Museum) and the Leopold Museum - to cover the highlights and grasp the essence of these two important facets of cultural heritage.

Our tour begins at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, which houses the treasures collected by generations of the Habsburg dynasty. The building itself gives an idea of the value of art to generations of the ruling elite and the nation. You will learn about the spiritual, representational and intellectual aspects of key works by the Old Masters. The next stop is the Museum Quarter, which now houses museums and creative spaces in the buildings of the former Royal Stables. The imperial heritage, adapted to the needs of contemporary culture, has become the vibrant centre of modern Vienna. You will be given a brief overview of the most important venues before proceeding to the Leopold Museum. Klimt, Schiele and Kokoschka are three names of the Viennese art scene of the early 20th century, whose works concentrate the concepts a complex and exciting period of fractured epochs. In the Leopold Museum you will experience the fascinating interweaving of ideas and personalities that shaped the consciousness of their time.