20th Century
Rectors' Gallery
Auditorium, Main Building, Universitätsplatz 3/1
Traditionally, the rectors have their portraits painted when their term of office is over. Their portraits are on display in the Auditorium, currently 34 in all. 18 of them are to be seen in the Senate Hall. Amongst others, they include paintings by Richard Kriesche and Hubert Schmalix. A publication by Art Historian Barbara Aulinger deals with the Rector’s Gallery in more detail: "Dieses Bild ist ähnlicher als ich", Leykam Verlag, 2012.
Allegories
Auditorium, Main Building, Universitätsplatz 3/1
For his paintings on the northern and southern walls of the Auditorium bearing the signature “A.D. Goltz 1910”, Alexander Demetrius Goltz chose the title “The Human Pursuit of Perfection”. They are allegories representing medicine, jurisprudence, theology, philosophy, study, research and scientific knowledge. The fictitious urban landscape may well be a reference to Graz. At the back of the hall, there are some sketches and explanatory notes on the paintings.
Contemporary Project Concerning a Painting by Franz Köck
Service Centre of the Austrian Student Union, Schubertstrasse 6
What had originally been a National Socialist painting by Franz Köck at the former seat of the Nazi Students’ Union, was transformed by Richard Kriesche. Together with contemporary historian Helmut Konrad, he added a text to the painting, calling for healthy criticism, tolerance and openness amongst today’s academic youth.
