The grande dame of the local art scene passed away on Tuesday evening at the age of 98, her family and the Leopold Museum announced to the APA on Wednesday. Elisabeth Leopold was born in 1926 in Vienna-Hernals. During her medical studies at the University of Vienna, she met the later ophthalmologist Rudolf Leopold, whom she married in 1953.
The tirelessly collected unique collection was entrusted to the Leopold Museum Private Foundation in 1994 – in exchange for the assurance that the Republic would build a museum for the collection. Since the death of her husband, Elisabeth Leopold, who was honored in 2017 with the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1st Class as well as the Golden Medal of Merit of the City of Vienna, served as a lifetime board member of the private foundation. She repeatedly acted as co-curator at the exhibition house itself.
Photo series with 3 images
Leopold and Schiele
In the beginning of their collecting passion, the Leopolds had to endure quite a bit due to their preferences. “A professor once said: ‘You collect Schiele? Well, you sure have a tough road ahead,'” the art lover recalled a few years ago. Back then, Schiele wasn’t regarded highly.
Some restitution cases revolving around the works of this now-great painter – keywords “Portrait of Wally” and “Houses by the Sea” – also occupied the couple for years. To meet the settlement payments, the museum had to sell other works by Schiele.
“Supported the museum project”
“Throughout her life, she was at the center of the family, ensuring the cohesion of the prominent personalities in the Leopold family through all the challenges of a collector’s house,” the family wrote in their statement to the APA.
“Above all, she always supported her husband and his museum project and never tired in her old age of highlighting his achievements and his art expertise, from which she herself learned so much and carried on.” She will be missed as an unmistakable, authentic personality in Austria’s cultural life.
Art collector Elisabeth Leopold passes away
The Vienna art collector Elisabeth Leopold was considered a grande dame of the Austrian art scene. She has now passed away at the age of 98.
Reactions to Leopold’s death
The death of Leopold signifies a heavy loss for the Austrian art and culture world. Even beyond the death of her husband, she dedicated herself to art and the collection, explained the director of the Leopold Museum, Hans-Peter Wipplinger.
“The Leopold Museum as the stage of the collection is the stone-carved legacy of Rudolf and Elisabeth Leopold. The sustained and steadily growing success of the museum since its opening in 2001 is the best proof that the Leopold Museum and the Leopold Collection have become an indispensable part of the Austrian cultural landscape during its 24 years of existence.”
“Elisabeth Leopold, together with her husband Rudolf, was considered a central figure in the Austrian art sector,” said State Secretary for Art and Culture Andrea Mayer. “It is thanks to her tremendous engagement and love for art that her outstanding collection on classical Austrian modernism – built with dedication over decades – has become a fixed and significant cultural heritage of our country.” With her legacy, she has sustainably influenced the Austrian museum landscape.
“With Elisabeth Leopold, the Austrian art world loses a leading figure who shaped it like no other. Elisabeth Leopold was not only a co-founder and board member of the Leopold Museum Private Foundation and later of the Leopold Museum, but also played a significant role for the MuseumsQuartier,” said MQ director Bettina Leidl. SPÖ culture spokesperson Gabriele Heinisch-Hosek praised Leopold and “her important contribution to Austria as a cultural country.”