Honored Persons

 

Elisabeth Leopold

Elisabeth Leopold was born in 1926 in Vienna-Hernals. She studied medicine at the University of Vienna from 1951 onwards and became an ophthalmologist. During her studies, she met Rudolf Leopold, whom she accompanied on his art trips back then and supported him in creating his collection. In 1953, the two got married. In 1994, the Leopold couple's collection (5266 inventoried works of art with a total estimated value of 575 million euros) was transferred to the Leopold Museum private foundation. 2.2 million schillings (160 million euros) were paid to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung and Rudolf Leopold was made artistic head for life. The purpose of the foundation is to preserve the collection founded by the founder on a lasting basis, to make it accessible to the public through the operation of a museum, to document it and to process it scientifically. In particular, Viennese Modernism should be presented at the beginning of the 20th century in its significance for Austria's cultural development. Following the death of her husband in June 2010, Elisabeth Leopold moved to the board of the foundation, of which she is a member until today (since 2015 as sole family representative). On a case by case basis, she also acts as a (co-) curator at exhibitions in the Leopold Museum, such as 2006 by "Frauenbilder" or 2012 by "naked men", a show that dealt with the male act in the history of art in the past 200 years. Together with the literary scholar Stefan Kutzenberger and the art historian Ivan Ristic, she curated the exhibition "Nevertheless Art!" In 2014, which focused on the fates of Austrian artists during the war years 1914-1918. In addition, Leopold appears at symposia and other events as a speaker on key issues of the Leopold Collection.