The Jugendstil and its Influence on Vienna

     The Vienna Secession was a movement that began in 1897 when a group of artists, designers, and architects decided to protest against the established traditions of aesthetics and design. They created their own movement, which the called the Secession. They even constructed a building to showcase their modern style of art. This style is known as art nouveau, or as it was called in Vienna, the Jugendstil. The artists of the Jugendstil wanted a departure from the romantic historicism style which had dominated Vienna previously. The new style was free from limitations of the past. It was simple and elegant. It was geometric and refrained from much of the ornamentation present in neoromanticism architecture and design. The seccesionists believed that everyday life should be filled with beauty, a belief that is evident in art nouveau architecture and craftwork.
     The most famous Jugendstil architect  is Otto Wagner. He was a professor and many of his pupils went on to design buildings that became important to the movement. Wagner is credited with coming up with the idea for the Stadtbahn. Now that system has been replaced by the underground metro, but you can still visit some of the Stadtbahn stations around Vienna. Gustav Klimt is perhaps the most recognizable member of the movement. He was a founder and the first leader of the Vienna Secession group. Klimt's paintings are very unique, as the figured appear very realistic but their clothing, the backgrounds and other surfaces are painted with an array of colors, patterns, and glowing gold. Egon Schiele is another important artist of the movement. He lived a short life, as he fell ill at the age of 28 and passed away. His work is darker than Klimt's, although the both death with the same two themes: eroticism and death. Schiele painted many portraits. The figures in his paintings are clearly people, but he distorts their features  and does not conform to the rules of proportions. He makes the eyes far too big and the hands long with thin fingers, which results in a very eerie effect.
     Today is our second full day in Vienna. It is amazing how much we have been able to fit into just two days. We have seen so much Jugendstil art and architecture, in museums and walking down the street. On Monday we went to the Leopold museum and saw paintings of Klimt's and Schiele's along with those of other artists of the movement. Some of the paintings were recognizeable, such as Klimt's "Life and Death", while others were a completely new experience. That morning we got to see the famous Stadtbahnhaus designed by Otto Wagner. Later in the day we saw three other buildings of his. Two of them are now offices and the third is The Seccession where the momvement's artists exhibit their work. We also went to the Belvedere, another museum with many Klimt and Schiele pieces. The most exciting part of the visit was getting to see Klimt's "The Kiss" in person! It was so much bigger than we thought it would be. It appeared to be glowing because of the golden background. On Tuesday, we went back to The Seccession and went inside to see Klimt's "Beethovenfries". It is a huge mural that Klimt painted for an exhibit for the seccesionists in 1901. The exhibit was to be an unveiling of the concept that the different arts should all be united by a common theme, which they called Gesamtkunstwerk. The frieze is Richard Wagner's interpretation of  Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Finally, we went to The MAK, or Museum of Applied Arts. Part of their exhibit include craftwork done by secessionist artists. There was pottery, jewelry, and kitchenwares, all beautiful as well as functional. There were lithograph posters made by the artists advertising their 1901 exhibition. And as if one frieze wasn't incredible enough, they had a full-sized study that Klimt had done for mural he was commissioned to do. It even had his notes scribbled on it in places he wanted to fix something.
      It is wonderful that we have been able to see so many exhibits of Jugendstil artwork, because each exhibit adds something to what we have learned at the previous one. For example, we saw the Beethovenfries and learned that it was painted for the exhibition in 1901. Then, only a few hours later, we got to see the posters advertising the exhibition and we were able to see how they complemented each other. We have one day left in Vienna, and I cannot wait to see what else is in store for us.