Secession – black and white

Late nineteenth century Vienna has been deemed the crucible of modernism. It was here, in the last days of the Austro-Hungarian empire, that decadent European Rococo and Baroque gave way to a more linear, geometric stylings, The Secession also featured flattened colours, simplified forms and other Japanese-inspired changes.

Out of this cauldron of creativity came a generation that wished to secede from the official, fraudulent, overblown, redundant salon style. The two most known artists from this period are Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. Designers included Joseph Hoffmann, Dagobert Peche, Koloman Moser and Michael Powolny.