Erika Giovanna Klien at the Lower Belvedere in Vienna, Austria, presents a comprehensive look at the career of a leading figure in the short-lived but influential Viennese Kineticism movement. The exhibition follows Klien's trajectory from her early studies under Franz Čižek to her later years in the United States, showcasing her obsession with translating the physical sensation of movement into graphic and painted forms.

Visitors will encounter a wide range of works including technical studies of rotating machines, fluid depictions of dancers, and the quivering motion of birds. The display highlights her multidisciplinary interests, featuring innovative puppet theater designs and set concepts that reflect her background in acting. The later sections focus on her life in New York after 1929, where her style adapted to the soaring verticality of the city and the harsh social realities of the Great Depression.

By bringing together works from international collections and archives, the Belvedere restores Klien to her place as a significant modernist innovator. The show moves beyond her well-known abstract experiments to reveal how she applied her kinetic principles to commercial design, art education, and social commentary, offering a nuanced portrait of an artist who never stopped searching for rhythm in a changing world.

Erika Giovanna Klien (1900–1957) was an Austrian-American painter, graphic artist and art teacher and the foremost exponent of Viennese Kineticism. She studied with progressive educator Franz Čižek at Vienna’s School of Applied Arts, where the movement developed, and gained international attention early enough for her work to be acquired by Katherine Dreier for the Société Anonyme. After emigrating to New York, financial pressures pushed much of her career toward teaching, contributing to her later under-recognition.

A rewarding visit for those who enjoy the intersection of dance, design, and early 20th-century abstraction within a historic Viennese setting.

Start with the early Viennese works to understand her rhythmic foundations before exploring how these concepts evolved into more complex urban and social themes in the New York galleries.

Don’t miss

Kinetic Figure (1927) for the pure language of Viennese Kineticism; Locomotive (1925) for the fascination with machines and speed; Brooklyn Bridge (1931) for the impact of New York; and the various birds in flight, where natural movement becomes almost abstract structure.