New management for the Leopold Museum: Hans-Peter Wipplinger and Gabriele Langer to form directorate
05.06.2015
The Board of Directors of the Leopold Museum appoints Hans-Peter Wipplinger as Museological Director and Gabriele Langer as Managing Director of the Leopold Museum
Vienna (OTS) – The Board of Directors of the Leopold Museum Private Foundation agreed on a new directorate in its board meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
Following the announcement made by the Leopold Museum’s long-standing Managing Director, Mag. Peter Weinhäupl, in February that he would not seek to extend his contract which is due to expire in early 2016, the Board of Directors decided to advertise the directorship of the museum in March.
A total number of 68 people applied for the two positions, among them 19 women, with 20 candidates applying for the post of Museological Director and 48 for that of Managing Director.
22 people, 11 per position, were then invited to the two hearings. The Board of Directors subsequently chose from among the five best candidates for each position and eventually agreed in Wednesday’s board meeting on Hans-Peter Wipplinger as Museological Director and Gabriele Langer as Managing Director.
The designated directors distinguish themselves in their capacity to work as part of a team as well as through their wide network within the art and culture scene. The Leopold Museum’s two directorship positions will be filled from the autumn for the duration of five years.
The renowned Austrian art historian Mag. Hans-Peter Wipplinger has acted as director of the Kunsthalle Krems, as well as of the affiliated institutions Factory, Kunstraum Stein and AIR artist-in-residence Niederösterreich, since January 2009 and has been the program coordinator of the Forum Frohner.
Wipplinger is the founder of the art and communications agency art:phalanx and was director of the Museum of Modern Art Passau-Stiftung Wörlen. He has curated some 150 solo and group exhibitions, including solo exhibitions on Paula Modersohn-Becker, Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys, William Kentridge, Daniel Spoerri, Anna Jermolaewa, Martha Jungwirth, Kiki Kogelnik, Erwin Wurm and Franz West.
Hans-Peter Wipplinger was and still is a member of several juries and advisory boards of the federal government and the state of Lower Austria, among others. Wipplinger’s projects have received numerous awards, for instance the Strabag Artaward International, the Austrian Art Award and the Msgr. Otto Mauer Prize. Wipplinger wrote his diploma thesis at Vienna University on “The Phenomenon of the Construction of History. Remembrance and Oblivion” based on the works of Christian Boltanski. Born in 1968 in Schärding, the art expert Wipplinger lives in Vienna.
Mag.a (FH) Gabriele Langer has worked since April 2013 as assistant to the Managing Director of the Leopold Museum and has been in charge of the Leopold Museum Private Foundation‘s controlling and book-keeping.
Langer graduated from the University of Applied Sciences for Finance, Accounting & Taxation (diploma thesis on "The Disincorporation of Austrian Federal Museums"), worked as procurator and managing director of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, as procurator for the accounting firm Ernst & Young and headed the departments of finance and controlling for the tax consulting and advisory firm LBG.
As an economics and management expert, Langer, who was born in 1967 in Vienna, is not only thoroughly acquainted with the latest approaches to business management but also with the ins and outs of running a museum.
The Leopold Museum is home to the most eminent collection of works by Egon Schiele worldwide and also houses important compilations of 19th and 20th century art, especially masterpieces of art from around 1900. The museum, which opened in 2001, illustrates the path of Austrian art into Modernity by means of paintings, graphic works and artisan craftwork.
Over the past years, the museum has evolved into an internationally renowned brand which operates successfully through additional special exhibitions in Austria and abroad. The Leopold Museum is the most frequented museum in the Vienna MuseumsQuartier and one of the biggest tourist attractions in Vienna.
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