Vienna Secession: 5 Famous Artworks of the Vienna Secession

The Vienna Secession was an artistic movement led by a collective of Austrian painters, designers, and architects. The movement began on October 3, 1897, when a group of artisans resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, a group that dedicated itself to the promotion of traditional art and architecture.

Taking its name from the Munich Secession that occurred several years prior, the collective sought to promote art that embraced simplified geometric forms, flourishes from classical antiquity, and the notion of a "total work of art" that would unify painting, sculpture, architecture, and interior design.

The Vienna Secession began on October 3, 1897, when a collective of artists made a clean break from the highly traditional Association of Austrian Arts.

• A mixed group of secessionists: Among the original members of the Vienna Secession were painters Gustav Klimt and Max Kurzweil, designers Joseph Maria Olbrich and Koloman Moser, and architects Max Kurzweil, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Josef Hoffmann, Wilhelm Bernatzik, and Otto Wagner. Klimt was named the organization's first president, and the elderly Rudolf von Alt was named honorary president. The group also had non-Austrian members including the Scottish Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the German Max Klinger, and the Swiss Arnold Bocklin.
• Vienna headquarters: From 1898 to 1903, the group published an official magazine called Ver Sacrum that was distributed among the artistic circles of Austria. Olbrich designed the Secessionists' Vienna headquarters, appropriately named the Vienna Secession Building. It was destroyed by the German army during World War II but rebuilt after the war; it remains an active gallery for contemporary art.
• Dissolution into new movements: By 1905, the group had lost many of its original members. Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann formed the Wiener Werkstätte (“Vienna Workshop”) to promote the applied arts movement (also known as the Arts and Crafts movement). Klimt would go on to help develop the Expressionist movement, which was further realized by his pupil Egon Schiele.

Aesthetically, the Vienna Secession bears a great resemblance to the Art Nouveau movement of the early twentieth century. The works produced by its members shared many key characteristics.

1. 1. Modern forms and materials: Buildings in the Vienna Secession style were defined by modern geometric forms and modern materials like aluminum.
2. 2. Influences from antiquity: Buildings like the Vienna Secession Building featured a simple structure with floral ornamentation inspired by the laurel leaves of classical antiquity. Intricate, bright gold building facades like these added an artistic flair to otherwise simple structures.
3. 3. Flat, decorative patterns: In paintings, Vienna Secession artists tended to emphasize the flatness of the medium by creating small, densely packed patterns. The gilded motifs in Gustav Klimt’s paintings are a prime example of this trend.

The Vienna Secession produced many iconic buildings and artworks.

1. 1. Vienna Secession Building, Joseph Maria Olbrich (1898): Designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich between 1897 and 1898, this Vienna building remains the lynchpin of the Vienna Secession movement. Although its walls are simple rectangles, it is adorned with homages to antiquity including the faces of three gorgons representing painting (malerei), architecture (architektur), and sculpture (plastik).
2. 2. Church of St. Leopold, Otto Wagner (1907): This Vienna church designed by Otto Wagner resembles the Secession Building, but the gold dome and ornamentations pay homage to the Orthodox church.
3. 3. Beethoven Frieze, Gustav Klimt (1902): Gustav Klimt's Beethoven Frieze is painted onto the pavilion walls of the Secession Building and features a polychrome sculpture by Max Klinger.
4. 4. The Kiss, Gustav Klimt (1908): Gustav Klimt's The Kiss was painted after he had formally left the Vienna Secession, but it stands as his most famous painting and a symbol of the movement.
5. 5. Woman in a Yellow Dress, Max Kurzweil (1907): This Max Kurzweil painting merges influences from Impressionism and Symbolism and would help inspire the Expressionist movement of the early twentieth century.

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