Vienna: Art and Design

Graham Abbott begins by exploring an incredibly dynamic moment in history: Vienna, at the start of the twentieth-century. The revolutionary spirit of reform of the late 1800’s lead to great feats of urban planning, modern engineering and architecture.

Here we are introduced to Karl Lueger, Vienna’s Mayor from 1893 to 1910. Lueger’s tenure as Mayor incorporated many successes including the appointment of talents, such as Otto Wagner, to design innovative new buildings for the new metropolis.

The Postal Savings Bank of 1903 was the ultimate manifestation of Otto Wagner’s functional and aesthetic principles and one of Vienna’s most significant examples of early modern architecture.

In the late 1890’s Otto Wagner announced a new way forward for modern architecture and design. Here we take a look at a reconstruction of Wagner’s extraordinary façade for the telegraphic offices of Die Zeit.

The Vienna Secession was established in 1897 by a group of discontented young artists, designers and architects who set out to explore art unencumbered by the constraints of the academic system.

To honour the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, in 1902 the Vienna Seccession held a great exhibition. This memorable event exemplifies the underlining vision of the group: the concept of gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art.

Here we discover the influence that many young avant-garde designers of the Secession had on Vienna’s wealthy bourgeoisie and the means by which individual identity, within Viennese culture, could find expression.

Graham Abbott finally introduces us to Gustav Klimt’s glorious portrait of the confident and radiant Emilie. Emilie Flöge was a highly successful clothing design and Gustav Klimt’s lifelong companion.

Here we explore the significance of human sexuality through the art of Gustav Klimt and one of Vienna’s most formidable thinkers of the time, the scientist and psychologist Sigmund Freud.

Here we meet the gifted Arnold Schoenberg whose talents encompassed music, painting, teaching and writing. Schoenberg’s revolutionary contribution to music is the invention of the twelve-tone scale, which transformed twentieth century music.

Here we explore the self-absorbed art of Egon Schiele. We look at why his drawings are considered the direct expression of his own mental and emotional states and what led to his arrest in 1912.

As we explore this sumptuous portrait of Fritza Riedler, we delve further into the work of Gustav Klimt, his pursuit of the feminine motif, and his reputation as a ‘ladies’ man’

The Wiener Werkstätte – or ‘Vienna Workshop’ – was a craft workshop set up by members of the Secession. Here we look at the formation of this highly influential group of designers and one of their most ambitious endeavors, to design, build and fit out the Stoclet Palace.

The Viennese love their Cafés. At the beginning of the 20th Century there were about 600 Viennese coffee houses. And 1907 saw the modernization of another Viennese passion, the cabaret.

Here we discover the story behind the best private collection of art and design ever to escape Nazi Austria.

The architect Adolf Loos was also forging a path into the modern age, but his philosophy was utterly opposed to that of the Secession designers. Here we take a look at these two philosophical approaches to modern design at the turn of the 20th Century.

The year 1918 marks the end of Vienna’s remarkable artistic and intellectual flowering and saw the death of Vienna’s four major artisits: Klimt, Wagner, Moser and Schiele.