Vienna 1900: Art-Architecture & Design

Author(s): Kirk Varnedoe

Source: MoMA, No. 40 (Summer, 1986), pp. 1-2
Published by: The Museum of Modern Art
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4380992
Accessed: 08-08-2015 06:45 UTC

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InternationalCouncilGalleries,
groundfloor
July3-October22

Though it contains manyof the

same masterworksseen in the recent
exhibitionsdevoted to modernViennese cultureand society held in
On July 3 the Museum opened the
Vienna and Paris,the Museum's
firstexhibitionever to present to the
VIENNA1900 adds manysuperbnew
Americanpublicthe full spectrumof
works fromprivateand museum
early modernart in Vienna. VIENNA
collectionsin the United States and
1900 includesnot only greatmasterEurope.More closely focused on the
U
U
pieces by Gustav Klimt,Egon
visual arts of early modernVienna,
Schiele, and OskarKokoschka(many
and on the epoch of their highest
of which have not been seen previachievements,VIENNA 1900
ously in the U.S.), but also a fabupresents an integrateddisplaythat
lous arrayof decorativearts and
the appliedarts to reshapecomdisturbedportraitsof Viennese
clearlyilluminatesboth the interrelafurnitureby the artists and craftspletely the viewer's experience.The intellectuals,artists, and aristotionshipof talents in Viennese art
men of the renownedWiener
artists of the Secession and the col- crats are amongthe most searing
and the rapid,dramaticchangesin
Werkstatte.In addition,architeclaborativedesign workshop,the
announcementsof the harshenergies style that markedits development.
turalmodelsand drawingsrepresent Wiener Werkstatte,devoted their
of Expressionism,is representedby
The legacy of Vienna is more alive
majorinnovativebuildingsby the
talents to fabrics,ceramics,silversuch key works as the portraitof the today than ever. In recent years a
Viennese architectsOtto Wagner,
ware, book design, fashion, and
bohemianViennese writer Peter
broaderpublichas become awareof
furniturethat rangedfromprotoJosephMaria Olbrich,Josef
Altenberg. And the brilliantthough the richnessof this exceptionalcity's
Hoffmann,and Adolf Loos. In the
Minimalsimplicityto lavish, one-of- tragicallyshort careerof Egon
contributionsto modernthought
GardenHall, a full-scale,seventeen- a-kindinlaidpieces of ebony, ivory,
Schieleis manifestin all its variety,
and creativity,while contemporary
foot-tallreplicaof a lost work by
and mother-of-pearl.All these varied fromhis trenchantExpressionist
architects, designers,and artists
Otto Wagner-the startlingly
expressionsof the Viennese genius, portraitsand self-portraitsthrough
have found inspirationin the Vienfromrigorousstructurallogic and
forward-lookingaluminumfacadeof
the melancholyallegoriesand landnese arts. Many of the most telling
the news dispatchbureauDie Zeitpurity to extravagantjeweled richscapes of the years of WorldWarI,
debates regardingthe art of the
stands at the entranceof the Interness, are visible throughoutthe exhi- to the stunninggraphicpower of his
1980s-over historicismand decoranationalCouncil Galleries.
bition,juxtaposedwith the great
unrivaled,often brutallyerotic,
tion, or over a new expressionismThe exhibitioncoversthe years
masterpiecesof paintingthat are
drawingsand watercolors.Also on
findtheir mirrorin the electric
fromthe foundingof the rebelartists' turn-of-the-centuryVienna's most
view are the unusualand often fanmomentof experimentthat held
society, the Secession, in 1897 to the familiarhallmarks.
tasist work of artists less well-known Vienna in thrallfor the magicyears
In painting,the exhibitionfeatures to Americanaudiences,such as the
fatalyear of 1918, which saw the
before 1918. VIENNA1900, which
the specialsensualpower of Gustav proto-surrealdrawingsof Alfred
end of the centuries-oldHabsburg
will appearonly at the Museum and
Monarchyand the dissolutionof the Klimt;his portraitsand nudes, often Kubinand the uncannyquasiwill not travel,providesan excepwith dazzlinggold-leafedsurfaces,
Austro-HungarianEmpire.During
cinematicvisions of KlemensBrosch, tional opportunity,unlikelyto be
displayhis distinctivetalent as a
these exceptionalyears, Vienna
as well as the fascinatingpaintings
repeated,to understandthis epoch
masterof elegant eroticism.The
witnessed strikinginnovationsin
of RichardGerstl and Arnold
and this society throughsome of its
youngerOskarKokoschka,whose
virtuallyevery domainof culture.
Schoenberg.
most seductive and most challenging
SigmundFreud'sreconceptionof the
artisticaccomplishments.D
natureof man as a sensual and civi-Kirk Varnedoe
lized being, the musicalinventions
Adjunct Curator,
of Gustav Mahler and the younger
Departmentof PaintArnold Schoenberg,the literary
ing and Sculpture
contributionsof, amongothers,
*=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A
Arthur Schnitzlerand Robert
Musil-all these basic components
of twentieth-centuryculturewere
productsof the complex,cosmopoliVienna 1900:
tan society of the capitalon the
Ticketing Information
Danube. Hub of CentralEuropeand
Membersare not requiredto purgoverningcenter of an unwieldly
-'m
chase either tickets in advanceor
Empirethat stretchedfromthe
timedtickets in orderto view the
Veneto to Russia, the Vienna of the
VIENNA1900 exhibition.
EmperorFranzJosef also saw the
Museum Members enter the exhiemergenceof new kindsof political
bition by presentingtheir memberpolemic,in styles of mass politics
that gave birthto both the Zionism
ship cardsto the ticket-takerat the
groundfloorentranceto the exhibiof TheodoreHerzl and darkerfascinations with demagoguery.With its
tion. Museum Members (Individual,
elegant society in decline and its
Family/Dual,Participating)who
wish to bringguests to VIENNA1900
young civilizationbeingborn, the
maypurchasetickets to the exhibiVienna of those days was a place of
dazzlingcontradictions.This city of
tion for $1.00 at the Information
spectacle and theater poised on the
Desk. Guest Passes are requiredfor
~.
:
volatile line between East and West
entranceto the Museum. Patron,
was the formativelocale of manyof
Sustaining,Supporting,and Fellow
the ideas and artisticinventionsthat
Membersmay acquireguest tickets
continue to shape our lives today.
to the exhibitionat the Information
In no other EuropeancapitaloutDesk free of charge.
side Pariswas aesthetic life such a
Nonmembersenter the Museum
prominentconcern. Vienna stood
throughthe east entrance(nearest
apartby virtue of an exceptional
Fifth Avenue) and proceedto the
eruptionof talent and ambitionin all
ticket booths on the east side of the
the visual arts. Viennese architects,
Lobby,where tickets to VIENNA
painters, and designerswere drawn
1900 are availablefor $6.00 ($5.00
recurrentlyto the ideal of the
for generaladmissionand $1.00 for
*Otto Wagner.Facade,"DieZeit"DispatchBureau (modernreconstruction
of 1902 original). VIENNA1900). Pay-What-You-Wish
Gesamtkunstwerk,
the total work of
art, which would unite the fine and
Aluminumand glass.CollectionHistorischesMuseuAm
derStadt Wien, Vienna.
does not applyto VIENNA1900.
U

Alt

I *ANCHI~119

The exhibitionhas been generouslysupportedby Mr. and Mrs. RonaldS. Lauderand the Lauderfamily.Additionalsupporthas been receivedfromThe InternationalCouncil
of The Museum of Modern Art. An indemnityfor the exhibitionhas been providedby the FederalCouncil on the Arts and the Humanities.

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EgonSchiele.Two Girls Lying

Entwined (The Models).
1915. Penciland gouacheon
paper.CollectionGraphische
SammlungAlbertina,Vienna.

tm:
1~~~~

-~~~~~4

* JosefHoffmann.Oil and
vinegarcruetsand othertable
objects.c. 1904. Silverand
glass.Privatecollection.

9.

* KolomanMoser.Posterfor
Secession XIII. 1902. Litho-

graph.Privatecollection,
courtesyBarryFriedmanLtd.,
New York.

* GustavKlimt.Hope II.190708. Oil and goldon canvas.

The Museumof ModernArt,
HelenAchesonFunds.

Cover:Clockwise from
upperleft:
* JosefHoffmann.Chair.1906.
Wood.Privatecollection.
* GustavKlimt.Salome JudithII).
1909. Oil on canvas.Collection
Galleriad'ArteModerna
Ca' Pesaro,Venice.
* Otto Wagner.Post Office
SavingsBank(Postparkasse)
CompetitionDesign (seen
fromthe Ringstrasse).1903.
Penciland inkon paper.Col,
lectionHistorischesMuseum
derStadt Wien, Vienna.

Vienna 1900: Video

In conjunctionwith the exhibition,a
28 minutedocumentaryvideotape,
Vienna 1900, is screened daily at the
Museum. The programexpandson the
themes of the exhibition,examining
Viennese culturallife and its influence
on the evolutionof modernthought. It
offersa variety of criticalperspectives,
clarifyingthe political,social, and culturalcircumstancesthat influencedthe
artists whose works are represented
in the exhibition.ProfessorStephen
Toulmin,a formerstudent of Ludwig
Wittgenstein, narratesthe film.He is
Professorof SocialThought at the
University of Chicagoand Visiting
Scholarat the Getty Center in Malibu,
California.The programwas produced
by MetropolitanArts, Inc., underthe

auspicesof The Austrian Press and

InformationService, New York,and was
madepossibleby the Creditanstalt,
Vienna-New Yorkand the Austrian
National TouristOffice.
Vienna 1900: Recorded Tour
KirkVarnedoe,Professorat New York
University's Institute of Fine Arts and
Adjunct Curatorin the Departmentof
Paintingand Sculptureat The Museum
of Modern Art, has preparedand narrated a recordedtour of the exhibition
Vienna 1900: Art, Architecture&
Design.As organizerof the exhibition
and authorof its accompanyingcatalog,
Dr. Varnedoeprovidesan informedand
insightfulguide to the splendidarrayof
masterworksin the exhibition,focusing
on its highlights.He describesthe artis-

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tic developmentsthat occurredin

Vienna between 1898 and 1918, revealing how they were expressedin the
paintings,decorativeobjects, graphic
design, and architectureon view. The
tour offersvisitors a concise and coherent interpretationof one of the most
creative,complicated,and excitingperi
ods in the history of modernart.
The tour is availablein Englishand
lasts approximatelythirty minutes. The
rentalfee is $3.00 per person.