Digital art up close: Egon Schiele VR experience in St. Pölten!

Digital art up close: Egon Schiele VR experience in St. Pölten!

On June 5, 2025, an event entitled "Talking to Egon Schiele. How much do digital experiences in the museum enrich us?" instead of. Over 60 participants, including prominent guests such as Gerda Leopold, Sebastian Endler from Amilux Film, Christian Huemer (Head of Belvedere Research Center) and Stefan Kutzenberger (writer and curator), came together to experience and discuss the latest VR experience “Egon Schiele – A Personal Encounter”. This interactive experience allows users to immerse themselves in a virtual world that explores the artist's final hours.

As part of the VR experience, visitors have the opportunity to interact directly with an AI-controlled portrait of Egon Schiele. You can choose different topics of conversation and thus influence the course of the experience itself. This novel presentation is a central part of the museum, which since 2018 has been inviting its visitors to engage more intensively with the biography and themes of his work under the motto “Egon Schiele privately”.

Details about the VR experience

The VR experience “Egon Schiele – A Personal Encounter” focuses on Schiele’s life during the Spanish flu in Austria. Flashbacks to Vienna around 1900 as well as key moments of his life are conveyed in an impressive way. Participants can enjoy the interactive experience, which is available in German and English and lasts approximately 35 minutes. Bookings are made through the manufacturer and participation is free as part of museum entry.

The experience is offered from Tuesday to Sunday at several time slots: 11:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. It is necessary to reserve time slots in advance. In addition, audiovisual stations with original voices from Schiele's environment are also available, which make the visit even more tangible.

Further activities in the Egon Schiele Museum

The Egon Schiele Museum has already planned future exhibitions that will run until November 2, 2025. These include "Egon Schiele. Me!", "Anton Peschka. Friend, brother-in-law, artist and collector" as well as unpublished interviews with Elisabeth Leopold. These developments support the museum's goal of communicating and discussing Schiele's artistic legacy from the most modern aspects.

For further information and bookings, those interested can contact the museum by telephone at 02272/64570 or by email at info@schielemuseum.at. The museum's website is at www.schielemuseum.at reachable. In addition, the interactive VR experience, which also took place at the Leopold Museum in Vienna between April 3 and 28, 2025, remains a fascinating example of contemporary digital museum offerings that combine art and technology. Here visitors were also able to experience Egon Schiele's last hours and exchange ideas with him.

Overall, this initiative shows how digital experiences in museums can transform the way visitors engage with historical art and its creators. They not only promote understanding of the works of art, but also create unique, personal encounters with the artists themselves.