Vienna Theatermuseum to reopen with multimedia Klimt show

Vienna’s Theatermuseum will reopen on December 2 after renovation, with a new permanent presentation devoted to Gustav Klimt’s “Nuda Veritas.” ORF reported Friday that visitors had been given a first preview of the multimedia exhibition.

The show, titled “Klimt. The Naked Truth,” begins in a newly created foyer at Palais Lobkowitz, the palace housing the museum. Screens and a timeline introduce the political, architectural and artistic context around 1900. Klimt’s “Lady with a Lilac Scarf,” painted around 1895, is presented as a precursor to “Nuda Veritas,” the exhibition’s centrepiece.

Visitors then enter a semicircular hall, once used as a stable by Prince Lobkowitz, in groups of up to 20 at set times. A ten-minute film, produced by Spanish company Tarkemoto with animation and artificial intelligence, uses five projectors to trace Klimt’s life and explore the background to his work. It also features other works, including the “pendentive paintings” at the KHM museum group.

At the film’s climax, visitors are asked to turn around as a recess opens in the back wall to reveal “Nuda Veritas,” dramatically lit. The experience was designed by C4 Berlin and Knauer Architekten.

A new museum shop has opened in the former premises of Galerie Wolfrum. The museum has not yet announced what will be on display in its upper-floor rooms; details are expected next week. The renovation cost 5.5 million euros, funded entirely from the museum’s own resources. The multimedia Klimt presentation accounted for 1.5 million euros, director Rudi Risatti told the APA news agency.