Originally published in 2013, Austria and the Venice Biennale 1895–2013 is a scholarly, 540-page publication that presents the first comprehensive overview of the history of Austria's participation at the Biennale. Each individual exhibition is fully documented and illustrated with previously unpublished photographs and correspondence drawn from public and private archives in several different countries. The book also explores the history of the Austrian Pavilion itself, which was constructed in 1934 according to plans drawn up by the architects Josef Hoffmann and Robert Kramreiter.

The list of artists that have represented Austria at the Venice Biennale over the last 125 years features many of the leading figures of its cultural avant-garde, ranging from Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oscar Kokoschka to Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Arnulf Rainer and Walter Pichler and onwards to include Valie Export, Maria Lassnig and Franz West. Its commissioners, given the responsibility of organising their exhibitions, have included individuals such as Hans Hollein, Peter Weibel and Kasper König.

Initiated and edited by Phileas director Jasper Sharp, who served as curator and commissioner for the Austrian Pavilion in 2013, the book includes essays by historians Philipp Blom and Rainald Franz (MAK, Vienna). Its extensive illustrated chronology researched by art historians Christina Bartosch and Judith Stöckl, is accompanied by short texts by Martin Hochleitner (Salzburg Museum), Günther Holler-Schuster (Neue Galerie, Graz), Antonia Hoerschelmann (Albertina, Vienna), Harald Krejci (then Belvedere, Vienna), and Susanne Neuburger (then mumok, Vienna). It was designed by Martha Stutteregger, and published by Verlag für moderne Kunst in both German and English languages.