L'abbraccio di Vienna - Klimt, Schiele e i capolavori del Belvedere, is the most important expression of the art of Europe.

It's the result of  the collaboration with the Austrian Belvedere Museum which keeps the most important world  works of Secession. The organization of the exibition has been planned by  Sergio Gaddi, town concillor of the Municipality of Como and  Franz Smola, responsible manager of Belvedere Mueum.

Gustav Klimt, outstanding figure of Secession in Vienna is present with many works of art such as "After the rain", "Kammer Castle on the shore of Atter lake "and the marvellous "Portrait of Johanna Staude", painted between 1917 and1918.

In addition to other important artists of Secession such as  Koloman Moser and Otto Friedrich, the exibution of  Villa Olmo shows some absolute masterpieces of Egon Schiele characterized by a strong passionate and phisical element: among them the world well known "Embrace", painted in  1917, reproducing two lovers becomining one person in their tight embrace . Another cornerstone of Expressionism in Vienna is Oskar Kokoschka. The work  "Tigone" painted in 1926 in a London zoo, presents the dynamic strength which characterizes his paintings. The Como Exibition analyzes also the artistic periods preceding the revolution of Secessionism and Expressionism. The starting point ,in fact, is the collection of Baroque paintings especially the ones connected to religion  and mythology, such as the "Allegory of the Immaculate conception "by Paul Troger , 1750, or the portraits by Martin van Meytens. Also the innovative sculptures by Franz Xaver Messerschmidt representing grotesque heads are of great importance . The  room dedicated to "Journey to Italy" shows romantic  representations of Italian towns and  the room "Women", is dedicated to the ideal woman of that period  considered both as mother ( in Josef Danhauser's pictures) and "femme fatal" in Johann Baptist Reiter's works.