The architect was Joseph Maria Olbrich, a student of Otto Wagner and his domed gallery building, with a sculptural frieze over the entrance, in the center of Vienna, became the symbol of the movement. The first architectural project of the Secession was the creation of an exhibit space which would introduce international artists and art movements to Vienna. The established painter Rudolf von Alt, eighty-five years old, was chosen as the Honorary President of the group, and he led a delegation with an invitation to the Emperor Franz-Joseph to attend the first Exposition. Other founding or early members included the architect Josef Hoffmann, the designer Koloman Moser, the designer and architect Joseph Maria Olbrich, and the painters Max Kurzweil, and Czech Alphonse Mucha, who resided in Paris and was already famous for his Art Nouveau posters. It is not a debate over aesthetics, but a confrontation between two different spiritual states."Īt the beginning, the Secession had fifty members, and at its first elected the painter Gustav Klimt as its president. The choice between commerce and art is the issue at stake in our Secession. Bahr wrote, "Our art is not a combat of modern artists against those of the past, but the promotion of the arts against the peddlers who pose as artists and who have a commercial interest in not letting art bloom. The goals of the new movement in Vienna were expressed by the literary critic Hermann Bahr in the first issue of the new journal begun by the group, called Ver Sacrum ("Sacred Spring"). The movement took its name from Munich Secession movement that was founded in 1892. The goals stated at the founding included establishing contact and an exchange of ideas with artists outside Austria, disputing artistic nationalism, renewing the decorative arts creating a "total art", that unified painting, architecture, and the decorative arts and, in particular, opposing the domination of the official Vienna Academy of the Arts, the Vienna Künstlerhaus, and official art salons, with its traditional orientation toward Historicism. The architect Otto Wagner joined the group shortly after it was founded. On 1stDibs, discover the sophisticated Vienna Secession furniture, art and decorative objects - ranging from watercolor paintings and prints to serveware and seating - that transformed Austria over one hundred years ago and maintain timeless appeal today.The Vienna Secession was founded on 3 April 1897 by artist Gustav Klimt, designer Koloman Moser, architects Josef Hoffmann and Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, Wilhelm Bernatzik and others. Jugendstil is associated with dynamic, rhythmic forms and undulating lines. This talented collective of Austrian artists, architects and designers most famously created works in the Jugendstil style - the German branch of Western Europe's popular Art Nouveau.
The artists’ intent to break free from classical traditions in fine art evolved to encompass applied arts and interior design as well: In 1903, Hoffmann and Koloman Moser founded the Wiener Werkstätte, or "Viennese Workshop," to produce progressive furniture, ceramics, glass and textiles.
VIENNA SECESSION STYLE & WIENER WERKSTÄTTEĪt the turn of the 20th century, Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffmann and several of their peers separated from the predominant Association of Austrian Artists to form a new professional union, the Vienna Secession.