Situated on Vienna’s triangular Freyung Square, the present incarnation of the Bank Austria Kunstforum dates from 1989. The building sports a unique Art Deco entrance portal topped by a gilded orb. The museum has been extended several times to accommodate more visitors and also holds the Bank Austria photography archive, with around 400 images. This art lover’s mecca is often crowded, so buy your admission tickets or Vienna Pass in advance to avoid a long line at the entrance.
The museum does not display its permanent collection, but instead hosts temporary exhibitions throughout the year that combine its own pieces with loaned works of art.
The small exhibition space in the basement-level tresor (a former bank vault) is dedicated to emerging local and international artists and is open to the public for free.
Download the museum’s app for written information in English (and an audio guide in German) about current exhibitions. There is also information posted for each work in English and German.
There is a cloakroom and museum shop but no café; the surrounding square and neighborhood offer a wide variety of eateries.
The exhibition spaces are spread over two levels, and are wheelchair- and stroller-accessible.
Freyung square is in the center of Vienna’s Old Town, so the Bank Austria Kunstforum is easy to reach on foot from many of the city’s main sights. To visit the museum via public transportation, take the U3 line (get off at the Herrengasse station) or the U2 line (get off at the Schottentor station). There are also local bus and tram routes that stop near the museum.
Bank Austria Kunstforum is open daily but can be very busy on weekends and holidays when it hosts blockbuster exhibitions. Plan to visit on a weekday when there are fewer crowds or in the quieter evening hours before the building closes mid-evening. Between 6 and 7pm, two visitors can enter with a single admission ticket.
Vienna is known for its excellent art museums, so after you’ve finished admiring the 20th-century works at the Bank Austria Kunstforum, make a beeline to the Leopold Museum to see what Austrian artists Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt were doing during the same decade. Then, travel back in time at the Kunsthistorisches Museum and see original paintings by the likes of Bruegel and Rubens. Plus, the Albertina is home to priceless Michelangelo sketches dating from the Renaissance.
