 120 important art works from the collection of the Berlin art dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt (1888–1965), including paintings and graphic works by Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka, Nolde, Corinth and Pechstein, formed the foundation of the collection of the New Gallery of the City of Linz after World War II.Building on these holdings, the city of Linz decided in 1953 to continue the New Gallery as a city museum with an active exhibition program and acquisition policies, and in 1998 to build the Lentos Museum, which opened in May 2003.Lentos seeks to present significant themes and issues of contemporary art in relation to 20th-century art history.