The rebel artists of Vienna overwhelmed the artistic establishment of Europe at the end of the 19th century, having seceded from the traditional Viennese institutions of fine art and named themselves the Vienna Secession. Their works shocked a conservative public, but their daring sensibilities and dedication to the applied arts and architecture soon brought them an enthusiastic following and wealthy patronage. The boldly modernist paintings of Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and others were matched by the buildings and applied designs of architects such as Joseph Maria Olbrich, who created the Secession Building as an architectural manifesto for the group. This classic book, now updated and with additional colour illustrations and a completely new introductory chapter, brilliantly traces the course of this influential artistic movement.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Format: Hardback
Size: 290 x 250 mm (11 3/8 x 9 7/8 in)
Pages: 288 pp
Illustrations: 225 illustrations
ISBN: 9780714868783

Peter Vergo is a leading expert on modern Russian, German and Austrian art, and the recipient of the Golden Order of Merit, bestowed by the Republic of Austria for services to Austrian art. His other publications include Kandinsky: Complete Writings and Twentieth-Century German Painting: The Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection. His two books about the relationship between art and music, That Divine Order and The Music of Painting, were published by Phaidon in 2005 and 2010. Vergo is Professor of Art History and Theory at the University of Essex.

Contents and sections:

Introduction

Vienna 1900

Secession

• The Beginnings
• The First Exhibition
• The Dedication of the House: Second Exhibition
• Ver Sacrum III–VI Exhibitions
• The ‘Klimt Affair’ – The University Paintings
• Exhibitions 1900–1902
• Beethoven 1902
• XVI–XVIII Exhibitions, 1903
• The Split within the Secession

• The Ringstrasse and the Architecture of Historicisim
• Otto Wagner, 1841–1918
• Joseph Maria Olbrich, 1867–1908
• Josef Hoffmann, 1870–1956
• The Wiener Werkstätte

• Palais Stoclet – The Stoclet Frieze
• Kabarett Fledermaus
• Alfred Roller, 1864–1935
• Hoffmann’s Later Work
• Adolf Loos, 1870–1933

• Kunstschau 1908
• Oskar Kokoschka, 1886–1980
• Richard Gerstl, 1883–1908
• Kunstschau 1909 – Vienna before the War
• Egon Schiele, 1890–1918

• The Later Work of Klimt and Schieles

"Handsomely reproduces some of the work that so shocked the conservative Viennese public."—Observer

"The continuing value of this seminal title is demonstrated by its publication as a fourth edition."—Library Journal

"[T]he go-to volume for the artists of the Vienna Secession."—St. Louis Post-Dispatch