Art collecting powerhouse couple, Agnes and Karlheinz Essl may be aging, but their eye for contemporary art is always sharpening. Believing that “art enriches life and releases innovative forces,” the two have always sought to collect challenging works, beginning with the Vienna Actionists onward.

With a true respect for artists, they don’t treat contemporary art like candy, wanting a taste of each artist; rather they view each purchase is an investment, preferring groups of works to single pieces. Moving past an Austrian-heavy collection, the couple bought works by CoBrA group artists (Asger Jorn, Karel Appel and Pierre Alechinsky) and international painters like Frank Stella, Georg Baselitz, Gerhard Richter, Peter Halley and Jörg Immendorff.

Opening their Heinz Tesar-designed public museum in 1999, the Essls could now display a collection that boasted the likes of Damien Hirst, Paul McCarthy, Thomas Struth, Andreas Gursky, Bill Viola, Tony Oursler and Jonathan Meese.

In addition to public programming, the couple established the annual Essl Award for Central and South-Eastern Europe, continuing their commitment to young, challenging artists.

A perfect day excursion to the country, the museum offers free shuttles to the collection from central Vienna.