Gustav Klimt was so fascinated by Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony that he depicted “humanity’s search for happiness” on works 34x2 metres in size. The text, which refers to Friedrich Schiller’s poem “An die Freude” (Ode to Joy), reflects a democratic zeitgeist and values which in a society marked by humanism are applicable to the present day. The thrilling final chorus is hard to resist. Beethoven’s Ninth is probably his most famous and most revolutionary symphony. The focal point is a Beethoven sculpture by Max Klinger. Joseph Hoffmann drafted the exhibition plan together with 21 artists as a homage to the artist and composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The Secessionists’ concept-masterpiece and Gesamtkunstwerk rolled into one-was most strictly implemented in this exhibition, thereby making it the most famous and most visited exhibition. The fourteenth exhibition was dedicated to the great composer, who is considered the prototype of the artist as lone fighter, suffering for humanity. It was and remains to the present day a laboratory that attempts with great import to uphold Ludwig Hevesi’s slogan: “To every age its art, to every art its freedom.”īoth the Secession building and its creative spirit have been inextricably linked to Ludwig van Beethoven since 1902. They shaped the Secession style, often also called Viennese Jugendstil, which is named after the building, the organisation and the institution. All pertinent artistic greats in Vienna around 1900, including Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, Carl Moll and many other artists, took part in this exodus and, with Gustav Klimt as their figurehead, commenced their journey into the exciting unknown. There should be no distinctions in art, and art should be a common good. The Secessionists (the artists who split off from the Künstlerhaus) aspired to unification and equal status of all art forms, transforming architecture, painting and sculpture into a Gesamtkunstwerk. “A fresh wind shall blow, which shall sweep away the backwardness of the Künstlerhaus.” ![]() Ver Sacrum reveals the tremendous originality of the Jugendstil language, a cornerstone of modernity that elaborated new forms of design, illustration and print/editorial composition.Vienna, 1897 – a group of Austrian artists splits off from the traditional Vienna Künstlerhaus, the professional body of Viennese painters, sculptors and architects at the time. Writers such as Rainer Maria Rilke, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Maurice Maeterlinck, Knut Hamsun, Otto Julius Bierbaum, Richard Dehmel, Ricarda Huch, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer and Arno Holz were published in its pages. During its six years of activity, 471 original drawings were made specifically for the magazine, along with 55 lithographs and copper engravings and 216 block prints, by artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Koloman Moser, Otto Wagner, Max Fabiani, Joseph Maria Olbrich and Josef Hoffmann. ![]() Ver Sacrum (meaning "Sacred Spring" in Latin) was conceived by Gustav Klimt, Max Kurzweil and Ludwig Hevesi. Published for the 120th anniversary of this historic magazine, it reproduces all 120 regular issues―plus some special, limited-edition covers―in 1:1 scale, alongside a selection of block prints, lithographs and copper engravings. This book gathers the covers of Ver Sacrum, the official magazine of the Vienna Secession, which ran from 1898 to 1903. ![]() With work by Klimt, Schiele and others, Ver Sacrum set the standard for magazine design Ver Sacrum: The Vienna Secession Art Magazine 1898–1903: Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Koloman Moser, Otto Wagner, Max Fabiani, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Josef Hoffmann / ISBN 9788857238760 / 320-page hardcover, about 11 x 11.5 inches, published by Skira (in a super deluxe way)
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