About this episode
This episode explores the Vienna Secession movement led by Gustav Klimt and its impact on art and culture in Vienna.
In 1897, Gustav Klimt led a group of radical artists to break free from the cultural establishment of Vienna and found a movement that became known as the Vienna Secession. In the vibrant atmosphere of coffee houses, Freudian psychoanalysis and the music of Wagner and Mahler, the Secession sought to bring together fine art and music with applied arts such as architecture and design. The movement was characterized by Klimt’s stylised paintings, richly decorated with gold leaf, and the art nouveau buildings that began to appear in the city, most notably the Secession Building, which housed influential exhibitions of avant-garde art and was a prototype of the modern art gallery. The Secessionists themselves were pioneers in their philosophy and way of life, aiming to immerse audiences in unified artistic experiences that brought together visual arts, design, and architecture. With: Mark Berry, Professor of Music and Intellectual History at Royal Holloway, University of London Leslie Topp, Professor Emerita in History of Architecture at Birkbeck, University of London And Diane Silverthorne, art historian and 'Vienna 1900' scholar Producer: Eliane Glaser Reading list: Mark Berry…
People in this episode
Guests: Mark Berry, Leslie Topp, Diane Silverthorne
Topics covered
- Vienna Secession
- Gustav Klimt
- art and architecture
- art nouveau
- cultural movements
- avant-garde art
Keywords
- Gustav Klimt
- Vienna Secession
- art nouveau
- avant-garde
- cultural establishment
- modern art gallery
- Freudian psychoanalysis
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Royal Holloway, University of London, Birkbeck, University of London
Books & works: Arnold Schoenberg: Critical Lives, Facing the Modern: The Portrait in Vienna 1900, Art, Design and Architecture in Central Europe, 1890-1920, Vienna: How the City of Ideas
Places: Vienna
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