Book dossier

Art in Vienna 1898-1918

by Peter Vergo

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 third edition, with over 60 new colour plates, brilliantly traces the course of this development, of the Wiener Werkstatte that followed, and the individual works of the artists concerned. Klimt, Kokoschka and Schiele were the leading figures in the fine arts; Wagner, Olbrich, Loos and Hoffmann in architecture and the applied arts. In other fields Mahler, Freud and Schnitzler were influencing the avant-garde. The author quotes extensively from the writings, many of them not previously published in English, 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 the Kabarett Fledermaus. The result 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.