Stella Rollig's Departure from the Belvedere: "Stellprobe" Looks Back on Ten Years of the Collection

"Es ist ein Gestell mit dieser Museumssammlung – Museumsdirektorinnen kommen und gehen, die Sammlung bleibt." With this remark, Rollig placed the show in context. During a press tour, she also asked: "Was bleibt von einer Direktorin nach zehn Jahren?" and presented herself before her retirement with a mixture of self-irony and programmatic resolve.

Acquisition Policy: Building on Strengths, Closing Gaps

She herself offered an answer: "Das Einzige, das nicht verändert werden kann, sind die Zugänge in die Sammlung." With the annual acquisition budget of roughly one million euros, she had pursued a strategy of, on the one hand, expanding existing strengths—for instance, in the Biedermeier holdings. On the other, it had been a matter of closing gaps, which applied, for example, to feminist media art of the 1970s. "Die Lücke bei Werken der Feministischen Avantgarde der 1970er zu schließen, sei ihr ein Anliegen gewesen", Rollig explained.

That the works remain connectable in other directions—Pilz's feminist restaging of the "Last Supper" from 1979 corresponds, for instance, with the aforementioned altar panels—keeps the viewing experience aesthetically engaging. "Vielleicht bildet rohe Farbkraft einen gewissen roten Faden beim Rückblick auf die vergangene Belvedere-Dekade", the accompanying publication states.

Theatre, Colour, and AI at the Belvedere 21

Old-master portraits by Franz Eybl appear to gaze, seemingly amused, at Toni Schmale's new monumental forging work "gefährt*innen". The oeuvre of artist Miao Ying, born in Shanghai in 1985, is likewise characterised by vehement colourfulness. In the lower level of the Belvedere 21, which is excluded from the main show, Miao Ying presents "Come, Sit, Stay"—her first solo exhibition in Europe—a work that, in this case, interlaces AI with the training of dogs.

The fact that Rollig borrowed the title of the show from the theatre—"Kunst-Theater-Verschränkung ist gewissermaßen der Megatrend 2026"—points to another connecting thread of the exhibition. Heimo Zobernig as a conceptual-playful commentary on the collection and its history completes the picture. Museum operations thus continue along familiar tracks, even though from January 2027 a new director, Nina Zimmer, will steer the fortunes of the institution.

For the departing director general, the collection remains the constant element. The roughly 160 works on display are meant to be read as a snapshot of the dynamic that Rollig set in motion over ten years. Soon they will be placed in new contexts by the next director—as is customary with collections that are alive.