Angelika Kauffmann Museum

Angelika Kauffmann Museum in Schwarzenberg

Angelika Kauffmann: wunderkind – artist - pioneer

Angelika Kauffmann was a great woman. She was a woman who lived in the 18th century but was way ahead of her time. She was a pioneer, an individualist, and a sophisticated artist of international stature. She was a woman in whose studio the world came and went, and she was a renowned daughter of Schwarzenberg.

Her father, Johann Joseph Kauffmann, came from a relatively poor Schwarzenberg family. As an artist and church painter, her father introduced Angelika, born in 1741, to the techniques of painting at an early age. At the age of 16, she received her first portrait and fresco commissions. The apostle frescoes in the Baroque church in Schwarzenberg originated from these days. During her schooling in Italy, she was an honorary member of the academies in Bologna and Florence and eventually the Accademia di San Luca in Rome. Her stay in England from 1766 to 1781 marked another peak of her international renown and appreciation. Although she was a foreigner and a woman, Angelika Kauffmann was a founding member and first female member of the Royal Academy of Arts. At that time, the young artist was already a leading figure of England's historical paintings.

After marrying Venetian veduta painter Antonio Zucchi, the wealthy and successful artist moved back to Rome in 1782. Until her death in 1807, she kept a studio near Trinità dei Monti. This studio was frequently visited by artists, scholars, and leading international thinkers. Men such as Winckelmann, Klopstock, Goethe, Herder, and many others valued Angelika Kauffmann due to her talents, her skills, her education, and her kindness. Despite her fame, she remained modest and always connected to her home of Schwarzenberg. This is proven by her frequent exchange of letters, her generous willingness to help those in need in her hometown, numerous donations of paintings to the community, and her legacy. The majority of her vast heritage went to Schwarzenberg.


Angelika Kauffmann Museum

The Angelika Kauffmann Museum was established in 2007 to honor the generous, great daughter of Schwarzenberg. Here, you can see changing yearly exhibits along with many other exhibits that have never been publicly shown.

The Angelika Kauffmann Museum is housed in the former agricultural wing of the Kleberhaus with an exhibition area of around 220m². The adaptation of the building was carried out under the premise of not infringing upon the character of the old farmhouse. This was an architectural challenge that was solved by architect Helmut Dietrich with his gentle renovations in a typical Schwarzenberg style: the foyer with its open roof truss unites old and new. The walls and furniture made of untreated silver fir wood stand out from the dark log wall of the residential wing from 1556. An appealing counterpoint to the old tie beams are steel girders. Roughly cut fir wood flooring leads into the exhibition room, where the longitudinal walls are divided into three flat alcoves. In the glassed-in spaces in-between, the structural steel blocks that support the roof load can be seen. The clarity of the exhibition room equipped with advanced technology promotes concentration on the very detailed exhibits. (Source: www.nextroom.at)

The Local History Museum of Schwarzenberg

The Schwarzenberg local history museum, founded in 1913, has been housed in the Kleberhaus since 1928. The museum documents the farming culture of the 18th and early 19th century.

Foto: Günter König
Angelika Kauffmann Museum, ©Hirschbühl Fotografie
Angelika Kauffmann Museum

Contact and information about the exhibits

Angelika Kauffmann Museum
Brand 34 A-6867 Schwarzenberg
Tel: +43 5512 26455 or Tel: +43 5512 3570

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SCHWARZENBERG tourist office
Vorarlberg, Austria
Tel.:  +43 5512 3570
E-mail: info@schwarzenberg.at 

Opening times
Mo, Tue, Thu: 8:00 to 12:00 & 14:00 to 16:00
Fr: 8:00 to 12:00
Wednesday: closed

Extended opening times during the Schubertiade

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