Contemporary art in the museum of Admont Abbey
A dialogue between tradition and innovation
Contemporary art in old walls - special exhibitions 2026: Hannes Schwarz and Josef Pillhofer
The second floor of the museum has hosted changing exhibitions every year since the opening of the large-scale museum in 2003. In 2026, the work of two important Austrian artists of the 20th century will be on display. To mark the 100th birthday of the painter Hannes Schwarz (1926-2014), an overview of his work will be on display. An exhibition on the sculptor Josef Pillhofer (1921-2010) is being organised in parallel. The works of two central protagonists of Styrian art in the post-war period thus enter into a discourse: Hannes Schwarz's drawings, paintings and graphics are on display, while Josef Pillhofer's sculptural works, drawings, collages and a tapestry that has rarely been shown to date are on show.
The opening of both exhibitions will take place on 19 March 2026, starting at 17:00 in the Museum of Admont Abbey.
Injured. Hannes Schwarz in the collection of the Benedictine Abbey of Admont
The exhibition „Verletzt“ offers a comprehensive insight into the multi-faceted work of Hannes Schwarz, which is characterised by existential questions and stylistic changes. After early abstract works in the 1950s and experimental printing techniques from 1959 onwards, the vulnerable, deformed human figure became the focus of attention from the mid-1960s onwards. From around 1975, the series „Verletzt“ (Injured) marked a turning point towards reduced, landscape-like pictorial spaces in which the exposure of the human being is thematised.
Counterworlds memorial project - Hannes Schwarz (1926-2014)
Josef Pillhofer. Between abstraction and figuration
Josef Pillhofer is one of the most important Austrian sculptors of the second half of the 20th century. After studying in Graz and Vienna and a formative period in Paris, he developed an independent formal language between abstraction and figuration. His work, which deals intensively with space, structure and the human figure, is presented in Admont with selected works on loan from private collections.
