Vienna 1900: Klimt, Schiele and Their Times; A Total Work of Art

by Barbara Steffen

The book published to accompany the Vienna 1900 exhibit at the Foundation Beyeler running from 26 September 2010 to 16 January 2011.With the Vienna Secession and Wiener Werkstätte, Vienna around 1900 was one of the cradles of modern art. At the center of this opulent publication on Viennese Modernism (1890-1918) stand renowned ornamental paintings by Gustav Klimt, erotic figure depictions by Egon Schiele, and works by numerous other artists, architects, furniture designers, and artisans of the Vienna Secession and Wiener Werkstätte. Adolf Loos, Otto Wagner, Koloman Moser, Joseph Maria Olbrich, and Josef Hoffmann are among the most important representatives of this period. Onview are early works by Oskar Kokoschka, oils by Richard Gerstl, and a few paintings by Arnold Schoenberg. Clear aesthetic relationships between the ornamental approach of the paintings and the designs of the Wiener Werkstätte become apparent. Essays by exhibition curator Barbara Steffen, Christian Meyer, Franz Smola et al. and a chronology with commentary of these years make this superb volume a true treasure trove of information for anyone who is interested in this period.The catalogue, edited for the Fondation Beyeler by Barbara Steffen, ispublished in German and English by Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern. Itcontains essays by distinguished Christian Meyer (SchoenbergCenter, Vienna), Franz Smola (Leopold Museum, Vienna), Barbara Steffen,Beate Susanne Wehr, Alfred Weidinger (Belvedere), and Richard Zettl(University of Applied Arts, Vienna), as well as a chronology by MichikoKono (Fondation Beyeler, assistant curator). 272 pages, CHF 68.--.289 illustrations, 276 in color

Genres: Art

Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Andrea Engle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lavishly illustrated exploration of the art scene in Vienna from the turn of the century until the beginnings of the First World War ... focuses mainly on Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka, and the circle around the Vienna Secession ...