The Leopold Collection of African Art

Prof. Dr. Rudolf Leopold

Collector, Founder and Museological Director of the LEOPOLD MUSEUM

Professor Rudolf Leopold was born on March 1, 1925 in Vienna, and obtained his doctoral degree in medicine in 1953. During his medical studies, he began to attend art history lectures and to collect paintings and objects of art at the same time, above all, works of the then little-respected Egon Schiele.

With an exhibition of modern Austrian art put together by Leopold in 1955 in Amsterdam and Eindhoven, the hitherto unknown Schiele suddenly moved into the front rank of European artists. Schiele exhibitions followed in Innsbruck (1963), London (1964), and, together with works of Gustav Klimt, in New York’s Guggenheim Museum (1965). In 1968, to mark the 50th anniversary of Schiele’s death, three exhibitions were held in Vienna. In 1975, a major exhibition was organized in Munich.

In 1972, Rudolf Leopold published a critical catalogue of Schiele’s works with a detailed list of his motifs. From 1989 to 1991, the exhibition „Egon Schiele and His Time“ was displayed with great success in Zurich, Vienna, Munich, Wuppertal and London. In 1995/1996, Rudolf Leopold exhibited 152 personally selected works by Schiele in Tübingen, Dusseldorf and Hamburg. Additional stops in 1997 included Graz, New York and Barcelona. In the summer of 1998, the exhibition „Egon Schiele – The LEOPOLD COLLECTION“ was held in Schiele’s hometown of Tulln. In the fall of the same year, a selection was exhibited in Innsbruck. For the World Expo 2000 in Hanover, more than 230 artworks were displayed at the Kestnergesellschaft Institute.

The Moser Kolo Leopold Museum at night in Vienna . Inside the museum there are a few African Art objects but most of them where sold in 2011 at Dorotheum

In 1994 the collection which contained over 5,000 artworks was consolidated by Rudolf Leopold with support from the Republic of Austria and the National Bank of Austria into the LEOPOLD MUSEUM PRIVATE FOUNDATION. The first task of the foundation was to grant public access to the comprehensive collection through the construction of a new museum. In 1997, Rudolf Leopold was awarded the Cross of Honour for Art and Science, First Class. In 2001, the LEOPOLD MUSEUM opened its doors to the public.

4 objects of African Art in the Leopold Collection offered for sale by David Norden at BuyAfricanAntiques.com

Austria's most prominent collector Prof. Rudolf Leopold (1925 - 2010). Leopold was primarily known as a collector of Schiele and Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) art as Rudolf Leopold's Books prove.

What is less widely known is that since the early 1960s he had been collecting tribal art with an emphasis on objects from native African culture. The collector's legendary keen eye for exceptional quality manifests itself in this section of the Leopold collection, which is largely unknown to the general public.

Rudolf Leopold died on 29 June 2010, his funeral took place at Grinzing Cemetery on 6 July 2010.

Following the collector's death the family has decided to reduce the extensive and significant estate to its essential core of 19th and 20th century Austrian paintings.

Consequently, the "unknown" Leopold collection of African art was sold at auction at Dorotheum in Vienna on 3 May 2011  including masks, ancestral figures, musical instruments, decorative art, and cult and ceremonial pieces. 

I was lucky to be able to acquire the following 4 important objects from the Leopold collection (click the images to read more) :

an important Yoruba Eshu from the Leopold collection  L= 38 cm SOLD

An impressive Ibo statue H= 115 cm SOLD

Bamum pipe H: 52 cm. AVAILABLE

Dan spoon H: 62 cm SOLD

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David Norden
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What to do Next ? If you order you will receive the above documentation with the Leopold collection and free delivery wordwide and 15 days guarantee and six month exchange guarantee, no questions asked.

If you are you interested to add a Leopold collection to your collection or have any question please send me an email and I'll get in touch with you, or call +32 3 227.35.40. Price include free expedition worldwide Read our complete Sale Conditions

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P.S.  Read some client Testimonials ...The Mende Bundu helmet is a significant addition to my collection,
and settled in the moment you placed it on my table, it wasn't going to leave my house from that moment ! Chris Wild