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prises 34 instruments, which are on<br />
loan to rising Austrian violin stars<br />
andAustrianchambermusicensembles<br />
and orchestras. The OeNB sees<br />
it as its duty to make the collection,<br />
which ranks among EuropeÕs finest,<br />
accessible to the general public. To<br />
this end, the OeNB once again organized<br />
a ÒStradivari & CoÓ event at the<br />
RadioKulturhaus in cooperation with<br />
the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation<br />
(ORF).<br />
In the late 1980s the OeNB,<br />
which has always shown a strong commitment<br />
to the arts, started to build a<br />
collection of Austrian paintings stemming<br />
from the period between World<br />
War I and World War II. This period<br />
was chosen deliberately, as its art<br />
The OeNB — An Innovative,<br />
Dynamic and Cost-Efficient Enterprise<br />
could hardly gain a foothold in museums<br />
and among its contemporaries in<br />
the face of the overpowering popularity<br />
of Viennese Art Nouveau. In the<br />
past 20 years the OeNB has bought<br />
more than 70 museum-quality paintings<br />
by 44 Austrian artists from this<br />
period, uniting them in an extensive<br />
collection which provides a representative<br />
cross-section of Austrian art between1918and1938.Moreover,the<br />
OeNB maintains a collection of Austrian<br />
figurative sculptures and paintings<br />
stemming from the second half<br />
of the 20 th century.<br />
Through its cultural activities, the<br />
OeNBhelpskeepAustrianartinthe<br />
country to preserve this heritage for<br />
Austria and for future generations.<br />
<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2004</strong> ×<br />
75