Leopold Museum

The Leopold Museum houses the world's most comprehensive collection of Egon Schiele's raw, sexually charged paintings and drawings, with over 220 works spanning his brief but revolutionary career. You'll also find substantial collections of Gustav Klimt's golden portraits, Oskar Kokoschka's psychological landscapes, and key Vienna Secession pieces that defined Austrian modernism. The stark white cube building lets the art breathe, and the top floor café delivers sweeping views across the MuseumsQuartier's baroque courtyard.

Your visit flows chronologically from Vienna 1900 through the collapse of the empire, starting with Klimt's luxurious portraits before moving into Schiele's increasingly desperate self-portraits and nudes. The atmosphere feels contemplative rather than crowded, with spacious galleries that give each piece room to shock or seduce. Schiele's death masks and personal effects add an unexpectedly intimate dimension to rooms filled with his tortured figures and angular landscapes.

Most guides oversell the non-Schiele collections, but honestly, you're here for the world's best survey of one artist's obsessions. Skip the basement contemporary exhibitions entirely and spend your time with Schiele's prison drawings and late masterpieces on the upper floors. Standard admission runs EUR 14, but Wednesday evenings drop to EUR 9 after 5 PM when the museum stays open until 9 PM.