A “Living Archive”

The Generali Foundation Study Center is a venue for research and learning that promotes an engagement with modern and contemporary art. It is located in the Rupertinum in Salzburg’s old city and is open to all interested parties free of charge. The reference libraries of the Generali Foundation and the Museum der Moderne Salzburg hold some 45,000 titles and reflect the focus areas of the collections themselves, from Classical Modernism to the contemporary.

In changing thematic exhibitions, works from the holdings of the library and archives are also presented in connection with works from the in-house art collections. The Generali Foundation Study Center sees itself as a “living archive” that collects and preserves publications, archival materials and media, making them available to scholarly research and generally accessible through its curatorial practices.

 

Collections

The Generali Foundation Study Center holds primary and secondary literature on artists as well as exhibition catalogs, books on art theory, (historical) journals, artists’ books, illustrated books, bibliophile editions, rare source works, and rare books that have long been out of print. There are two terminals for viewing films and videos from the Generali Foundation Collection (by VALIE EXPORT, Dan Graham, Harun Farocki, Sanja Iveković, Martha Rosler, and others), including recordings of events that have taken place at the Generali Foundation in Vienna since the 1990s. The holdings that can be viewed on site are supplemented by special archives on artists such as Michael Asher, Andrea Fraser, Adrian Piper, and Gordon Matta-Clark. Parts of the private archive and library of the Austrian art critic Kristian Sotriffer can also be viewed at the Study Center.

 

The Franz West Lounge

The Franz West Lounge is situated immediately adjacent to the reading room. It is named after the artist Franz West (1947 Vienna, AT – 2012 Vienna, AT) and is furnished with an ensemble of benches, chairs and tables designed by West together with Peter Kogler, Marcus Geiger, and Heimo Zobernig. It offers an ambience suitable for visitors keen to engage in concentrated reading and learning, or who just want to spend time reading and relaxing; it is also available for workshops, seminars, and events.

We will be happy to help you find what you’re looking for, during our opening hours and by appointment.

Online catalog of the Generali Foundation Collection

We are currently working on an online catalog for the Museum der Moderne Salzburg. Please contact us directly with your search requests (see right column).