When traditional craft met blossoming Modernism
Poets and intellectuals brushed shoulders in
bustling coffeehouses, young avant-gardists heralded a new era in
social and sexual liberalism, waltzes resounded through the
Ringstrasse, the
Vienna Secession preached: “To every age its art — to every art its freedom;” and tremors warned of looming
political disintegration when the Austrian capital passed into a new century.
Across economics, science, art, and music, Vienna blossomed into a “laboratory of modernity,” one which nurtured some of the greatest artistic innovators—from
Egon Schiele’s unflinching nude portraits to
Gustav Klimt’s decadent
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, from the ornamental seams and glass floors of
Otto Wagner to
Ditha Moser’s calendars adorned in golden deities.
Discover the zeitgeist, the scandals, and the extraordinary protagonists in this introduction to a transformative epoch. Across
painting, sculpture, architecture, and design, we explore all the movers and shakers through
insightful profiles and
crisp double-page reproductions. Marking the centenary of the deaths of some of its brightest talents, this collection joins Vienna in its
2018 celebration of Modernism.
The editor
Rainer Metzger studied art history, history, and German literature in Munich and Augsburg. In 1994, he earned his Ph.D. on the subject of Dan Graham, and subsequently worked as a fine arts journalist for the Viennese newspaper Der Standard. He has written numerous books on art, including volumes on van Gogh and Chagall. Since 2004, he has worked as Professor of art history at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe.
Vienna 1900
Hardcover, 8.3 x 10.2 in., 1.24 lb, 96 pages
ISBN 978-3-8365-6705-3
Edition: English
ISBN 978-3-8365-6704-6
Edition: French
