Title
- Secession (Kurztitel)
Collection
Production
- design: Gustav Klimt
- client / customer: Viennese Secession, Vienna, 1898
- print office: Albert Berger (Wien), Vienna, 1898
- Beteiligte Körperschaft: Gartenbausäle
Material | Technique
Measurements
- height: 64 cm
- width: 46.5 cm
Inventory number
- PI 1657-3
Acquisition
- donation
Department
- Library and Works on Paper Collection
Inscriptions
- text on object: I. Kunstausstellung der Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs. Secession. Eröffnung Ende März. Gebäude der Gartenbau Gesellschaft. [zensierte Fassung]
- signature: Gustav Klimt
Description
-
The Vienna Secession was founded on 3 April 1897 by Josef Hoffmann, Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Joseph Maria Olbrich and other artists who had decided to secede from the Vienna Künstlerhaus. These “Secessionists” rejected the conservatism and the traditional concept of art that prevailed there and strove to create a modern, Austrian style. For their first exhibition, held on the premises of the k. k. Gartenbaugesellschaft [Imperial Royal Horticultural Society] in 1898, Gustav Klimt designed a poster that went beyond being a mere announcement to function as a manifesto of sorts. Klimt depicted the battle between Theseus and the Minotaur: Theseus, sheltered by Pallas Athena, personified the Secessionists’ new conception of art, while the Minotaur stood for the conservative Künstlerhaus. This depiction was taken as an affront, and the k. k. Censurbehörde [Imperial Royal Censorship Office] objected to the fig leaf (which they deemed too small). It was only after this detail had been “corrected” that the poster was allowed to be displayed.
(Pokorny-Nagel, Kathrin)
Last update
- 13.04.2025
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