Klimt 2012_Englisch [PDF] - VIENNA

Art Nouveauand Modernismin architectureSecession© WTV/Peter KollerVisitors to Vienna will find evidence of the (artistic)transition from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuryalmost everywhere they look. Architecture inthe city was shaped by the nascent VienneseJugendstil (Art Nouveau), which was also referredto as the Secessionist style. The Secession, completedin 1898 by Joseph Maria Olbrich,(1867–1908), is one of the best-known examplesof Viennese Art Nouveau. This pioneering buildingnear the Naschmarkt was the first exhibition hall inCentral Europe to be dedicated to modern art, andto this day it is one of the most original examples ofArt Nouveau architecture in Europe. In 1897,Gustav Klimt submitted two designs for the building,which was commissioned as an alternative tothe Künstlerhaus. The world-famous “BeethovenFrieze” can be seen at the Secession, which alsohosts changing exhibitions by contemporary artists.Gustav Klimt created this cycle of pictures dedicatedto the composer Ludwig van Beethoven for the14th Secession exhibition in 1902.Other than the Secession, which provided a meetingplace for Klimt and his young contemporaries,Vienna is full of interesting architecture that bearswitness to the progressive spirit of Klimt’s day. Thearchitects Otto Wagner (1841–1918) and JosefHoffmann (1870–1956) shaped the face of theAustrian capital like no others, accounting for alarge proportion of the city’s art Nouveau buildings.The most striking characteristic of these buildings isthe ornamentation that forms a constituent part ofthe exterior design. Marble, glass, tiles and metalapplications, brightly-colored stucco and gildingdecorate the facades. Many of the Art Nouveaubuildings in the city feature the ubiquitous floralornamentation.32