Sammlungsraum Franz West

A program of special rotating displays of works drawn from the Hall Collection open to visitors via special tour opportunities.

Widely regarded as the pre-eminent European artist of his generation, Franz West (Austrian, 1947-2012) is known for willfully unserious, non-ideological, and sometimes mischievously erotic mixed-media drawings, sculptures, and furniture. Replete with contradictions, West’s work is often joyful, even silly, yet can be tinged with fragile vulnerability and an undercurrent of existential nihilism. It concerns itself—often simultaneously—with lofty philosophical pursuits and the basest of human conditions: laziness, boredom, drunkenness, or sexual desire. His intentionally crude collages combine awkward, isolated figures from magazine ads with slapdash coats of thick paint.