Discusses the origins, growth, and aesthetic values of the Vienna Secession, examining architecture, paintings, and graphics by the association's progressive artists.

The artistic stagnation of Vienna at the end of the nineteenth century was rudely shaken by the artists of the Secession. Their works at first shocked a conservative public; but their successive exhibitions, their magazine "Ver Sacrum", and their application to the applied arts and architecture soon brought them an enthusiastic following and wealthy patronage. This book traces the course of this development, of the Wiener Werkstatte that followed, and the individual works of the artists concerned. Klimt, Olbrich, Loos and Hoffmann in architecture and applied arts. In other fields Mahler, Freud and Schnitzler were influencing the avant-garde. Peter Vergo quotes extensively from the writings of contemporary reviewers, critics and the artists themselves. He has eye-witness accounts of the exhibitions, the opening of the Secession building, the work in progress on the Palais Stoclet and Kabarett Fledermaus. The result is a documentary study of the successes and failures, hopes and fears of the members of an artistic movement which is still admired today.

The Palais Stoclet and the Kabarett Fledermaus. The reult is a fascinating documentary study of the successes and failures, hopes and fears of the members of an artistic movement which is much admired today."

Art Periodical Culture in Late Imperial Russia (1898-1917). Print Modernism in Transition offers a detailed exploration of the major Modernist art periodicals in late imperial Russia, the World of Art (Mir Iskusstva, 1899-1904), The Golden Fleece (Zolotoe runo, 1906-1909) and Apollo (Apollon, 1909-1917). By exploring the role of art reproduction in the nineteenth century and the emergence of these innovative art journals in the turn of the century, Hanna Chuchvaha proves that these Modernist periodicals advanced the Russian graphic arts and reinforced the development of reproduction technologies and the art of printing. Offering a detailed examination of the “inaugural” issues, which included editorial positions expressed in words and images, Hanna Chuchvaha analyses the periodicals’ ideologies and explores journals as art objects appearing in their unique socio-historical context in imperial Russia.

A symbol of modernity, the Viennese Secession was defined by the rebellion of twenty artists who were against the conservative Vienna Künstlerhaus' oppressive influence over the city, the epoch, and the whole Austro-Hungarian Empire. Influenced by Art Nouveau, this movement (created in 1897 by Gustav Klimt, Carl Moll, and Josef Hoffmann) was not an anonymous artistic revolution. Defining itself as a “total art”, without any political or commercial constraint, the Viennese Secession represented the ideological turmoil that affected craftsmen, architects, graphic artists, and designers from this period. Turning away from an established art and immersing themselves in organic, voluptuous, and decorative shapes, these artists opened themselves to an evocative, erotic aesthetic that blatantly offended the bourgeoisie of the time. Painting, sculpture, and architecture are addressed by the authors and highlight the diversity and richness of a movement whose motto proclaimed “for each time its art, for each art its liberty” – a declaration to the innovation and originality of this revolutionary art movement.

With work by Klimt, Schiele and others, Ver Sacrum set the standard for magazine design This book gathers the covers of Ver Sacrum, the official magazine of the Vienna Secession, which ran from 1898 to 1903. Published for the 120th anniversary of this historic magazine, it reproduces all 120 regular issues--plus some special, limited-edition covers--in 1:1 scale, alongside a selection of block prints, lithographs and copper engravings. Ver Sacrum (meaning "Sacred Spring" in Latin) was conceived by Gustav Klimt, Max Kurzweil and Ludwig Hevesi. During its six years of activity, 471 original drawings were made specifically for the magazine, along with 55 lithographs and copper engravings and 216 block prints, by artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Koloman Moser, Otto Wagner, Max Fabiani, Joseph Maria Olbrich and Josef Hoffmann. Writers such as Rainer Maria Rilke, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Maurice Maeterlinck, Knut Hamsun, Otto Julius Bierbaum, Richard Dehmel, Ricarda Huch, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer and Arno Holz were published in its pages. Ver Sacrum reveals the tremendous originality of the Jugendstil language, a cornerstone of modernity that elaborated new forms of design, illustration and print/editorial composition.

The jewelry of the Wiener Werkstätte blurs the lines between gorgeous ornament and miniature sculpture The Wiener Werkstätte, or Vienna Workshops, was founded in 1903. The firm's artistic cofounders, Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, subscribed to the English Arts and Crafts ideal of exceptionally well-made objects designed by artists and executed by specialized craftsmen. Following the example of near contemporaries René Lalique and Louis Comfort Tiffany, Hoffmann and Moser shared the belief that jewelry should be valued for its artistic merit and not simply for its monetary value. This opulent publication highlights masterpieces created by the Wiener Werkstätte between 1903 and the early 1920s. It features significant pieces by Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, Carl Otto Czeschka and Dagobert Peche, among others. Supplemental materials include relevant periodicals, design drawings and photographs of prominent clients.

This book charts the history of the last fifty years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867 to 1918. it reveals that the Habsburg Monarchy, though not in a healthy state before 1914, was not in fact doomed to collapse. The author examines foreign and domestic policies and reveals the weaknesses inherent in the Empire.He also shows how the Austro-Hungarian Empire attempted to satisfy the claims of eleven distinct national groups.

This new edition of 'a book that offers the best available grounding in its huge subject,' as the Sunday Times called it, includes color plates and a revised and expanded bibliography. Professor Hamilton traces the origins and growth of modern art, assessing the intrinsic qualities of individual works and describing the social forces in play. The result is an authoritative guide through the forest of artistic labels-Impressionism and Expressionism, Symbolism, Cubism, Constructivism, Surrealism, etc.-and to the achievements of Degas and Cezanne, Ensor and Munch, Matisse and Kandinsky, Picasso, Braque, and Epstein, Mondrian, Dali, Modigliani, Utrillo and Chagall, Klee, Henry Moore, and many other artists in a revolutionary age.

In Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century the question of what it meant to be modern was a heated topic of debate. Focusing on interior design, fashion and photography, as well as on painting and architecture, this study casts fresh light on the vital role of the arts in these debates. The 'new' art and literature was crucial in defining a distinctive Viennese modernity while at the same time challenging preconceptions about modern urban life. Many artists and writers produced work that questioned and undermined oppositions between city and country, interior spaces and panoramic views, masculinity and femininity. Issues of gender and the representation of the body were particularly important in establishing professional identities for some of Vienna's most prominent figures, including the Secessionist painters Gustav Klimt and Carl Moll, designers such as Adolf Loos and Emilie Flöge, as well as the poet and feuilletonist Peter Altenberg. Intellectual life in turn-of-the-century Vienna has often been characterised as a retreat from the public sphere. This book demonstrates how - even in its ostensibly most private manifestations - Viennese Modernism involved a highly performative set of practices aimed at an international audience.