The Development of Mounts and Mounting Techniques at the Albertina in Vienna from 1805 to 2018

Abstract This article is part of the oral history research project at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and discusses the development of mountings and passe-partouts at the Grafische Sammlung Albertina from 1805 until 2018. Based on the history of passe-partouts, the professionalisation of paper conservation in Vienna can be described. Passe-partouts of drawings and prints were chronologically classified. The collection history, the appearance of the passe-partouts as well as inventory catalogues and collection stamps served to classify the passe-partouts. The prints were mounted on back mounts at the beginning of the 19th century, after 1822 they were stored in albums. Since 1900, prints were removed from the albums, from nationalisation in 1919 onwards, they were set in passe-partouts. The drawings, however, were always kept in passe-partouts. At the beginning, these only consisted of back mounts. In the 1860ies, they were supplemented by a window mount. The hinged window mount that appeared in the 1960ies has been complemented with a cover sheet since the 1990ies.