Why is the Virgin Mary often depicted with a lily? Why is Eve picking an apple? And why was a tulip the cause of the first stock market crash in the 17th century? Works from the Gothic period to the present day tell of the symbolic content of plants and show how deeply nature is embedded in our cultural ideas and practices.
Plants provide us with food and give us air to breathe. They not only make our material existence possible, they have also always carried meanings and messages. In many cultures, they are symbols of love, life, death or transience.
Using works by important Austrian and international artists as well as cultural-historical objects and natural history documents, the exhibition presents the cultural history of around 18 selected edible, useful and ornamental plants. It describes how the origin, distribution and use of plants have changed the world, why wars were fought over plants and why people were enslaved. Apple, lily, sunflower and cotton are represented in the show, as are wine, tobacco and the imperial crown. The imperial crown became a symbol of power and wealth in the Baroque era. It was planted in the gardens of European aristocrats as a sign of their position and influence. Its majestic appearance and demanding care underline the high status of those who could afford this plant.
The exhibition is a visually stunning homage to the plant world. It focuses on the importance, significance and influence of plants on people's lives and aims to contribute to a deeper appreciation of nature as a whole.

Ignaz Stern, Flowers in a vase with two putti, 1748 © Residenzgalerie Salzburg, photo by Ulrich Ghezzi, Oberalm
Artists and artists
The exhibition presents works from different centuries, such as Lienhart Astl Umkreis, Peter Atanasov, Thomas Baumgärtel, Renate Bertlmann, Albert Birkle, Michaela Brückmüller, Peter Candid, Carlo Cignani, Brigitte Corell, Jan van Dalen, Gunter Damisch, Hugo Darnaut, Regula Dettwiler, Johann Baptist Durach, Astrid Esslinger, Adolf Fassbender, Thomas Feuerstein, Norbert Fleischmann, Sonia Gansterer, Dorothee Golz, Andreas Gursky, Gerhard Haderer, Peter Hauenschild, Markus Huemer, Lisa Huber, George Hurrell, Anna Jermolaewa, Johanna Kandl, Josef Kern, Ronald Kodritsch, Leopold Kogler, Herlinde Kölbl, Johann Knapp, Barbara Krafft, Paul Kranzler, Hans Kupelwieser, Maria Lassnig, Edgar Lissel, Franziska Maderthaner, Elfriede Mejchar, Abraham Mignon, Alois Mosbacher, Ursula Neugebauer, Michael Pacher Umkreis, Margit Palme, Klaus Pichler, Monika Pichler, Elisabeth Plank, Michael Powolny, Norbert Pümpel, Johann Baptist Reiter, Johann Michael Rottmayr, Bianca Regl, Bettina Rheims, Frenzi Rigling, Martin Johann Schmidt, called Kremser Schmidt, Gabriele Schöne, Luzia Simons, Stefan Simony, Joseph Karl Stieler, Erich Sokol, Christa Sommerer & Laurent Mignonneau, Carl Spitzweg, Ignaz Stern, Bernhard Tragut, Anna Tischler-Weber, Gerold Tusch, Timm Ulrichs, Maja Vukoje, Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, Andy Warhol, Joseph Winterhalter the Younger and Leopold Zinnögger.
May 24, 2025 to February 15, 2026
www.lgnoe.at

Klaus Pichler, Tomatoes from the series: One third, 2023 © Klaus Pichler