SECESSIONS
Klimt Stuck Liebermann
Edited by Ralph Gleis and Ursula Storch
Preface from the Freunde der Nationalgalerie
Gabriele Quandt
Preface from the Wien Museum
Matti Bunzl
Foreword to the Exhibition
Ralph Gleis
ESSAYS
The Dawn of a Pluralistic Modernism Secessions in Munich, Vienna and Berlin
Ralph Gleis and Ursula Storch
Model and Catalyst
The Beginnings of the Munich Secession
Karin Althaus
To Time its Art, to Art its Freedom The Early Years of the Vienna Secession
Ursula Storch
An Entity in the Artistic Life of Germany
The Berlin Secession from 1899 to 1913
Anke Matelowski
CONTENTS
20 38 52 66 11 13 15
Secessions
The Protagonists
Drawings by Klimt from the Secession Period
The Freedom of Art
Secession as a Brand
Internationality as Program
Spring Awakening
Children’s Worlds
Private Insights
The Modern Portrait
Illustrious Society
Of Work and Everyday Life
Encounters with Nature
Heads of the Secessions
Rejection and New Beginnings
List of Exhibited Works
Selected Literature Image Credits
Lenders and Acknowledgements
Imprint
CATALOG APPENDIX 81 82 120 142 156 178 194 208 218 230 240 252 262 284 300 312 324 326 327 328
PRIVATE INSIGHTS
The home, the living room, or the country house were typical bourgeois retreats that often gave rise to intimate depictions of interiors.
Loved ones engaged in everyday activities, reading, at the dining table, or at the desk became common motifs in Impressionist painting, the actual occasion for which was a particular color effect or lighting. This led to glimpses of private life, such as in König’s Am Frühstückstisch (At the Breakfast Table), which conveys intimacy and familiarity. In Ury’s work, the female model seems to be taken for granted and integrated into her surroundings. Both he and Spiro allow us to look into light-filled rooms that evoke a comfortable sense of well-being.
In contrast to the exuberant style of Historicism that had prevailed until then and that, despite its vibrant colors, still resonates in Kuehl’s Blaues Zimmer (Blue
Room), Moll now depicts his modern interiors in a simple and uncluttered manner, with fine gradations of color. These precisely composed depictions seem almost like illustrations of the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, according to which all the arts should be united. The formal austerity and geometry of modern architecture is emphasized by the chosen formats. The painter himself lived in a house of this type, designed by Hoffmann as an architect.
The Wiener Werkstätte, founded by Hoffmann and Moser in 1903, took arts and crafts to a new level. The aim was to completely permeate all areas of life with art, from beautifully designed furniture to everyday objects in the home and the fashion of its inhabitants. Only the haute bourgeoisie could afford the elaborately designed pieces in the most exquisite materials and fabrics. RG
220 PRIVATE INSIGHTS
GOTTHARDT KUEHL
The Blue Room, ca. 1900 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
221
LESSER URY Woman at a Desk, 1898 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
222
GOTTLIEB THEODOR KEMPF VON HARTENKAMPF
PRIVATE INSIGHTS
The Artist’s Studio, ca. 1904 Wien Museum, Vienna
223
EUGENE (EUGEN) SPIRO
Sojourn in the Country, 1906
Berlinische Galerie – Museum of Modern Art
224
CARL MOLL Salon in the House of Carl Moll on the Hohe Warte, 1903 Wien Museum, Vienna PRIVATE INSIGHTS
225
CARL MOLL
Anna Moll at the Secretary Desk, before 1903 Wien Museum, Vienna
226
LEO VON KÖNIG
PRIVATE INSIGHTS
At the Breakfast Table, 1907 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
227
CARL MOLL Mother and Child at the Table (At Breakfast), 1903 Wien Museum, Vienna
Small Table Lamp, Execution: Wiener Werkstätte, ca. 1905
Wien Museum, Vienna
Longcase Clock, Execution: Wiener Werkstätte, 1902
Wien Museum, Vienna
Wien Museum, Vienna
1905
228
CARL OTTO CZESCHKA
Painted wooden case, Execution: Wiener Werkstätte, ca.
JOSEF HOFFMANN
JOSEPH MARIA OLBRICH
PRIVATE INSIGHTS
KOLOMAN (KOLO) MOSER
Candlestick, Execution: Wiener Werkstätte, 1903
Wien Museum, Vienna
JOSEF HOFFMANN
Thermometer in Metal Casing, Execution: Wiener Werkstätte, ca. 1904
Wien Museum, Vienna
JOSEF HOFFMANN
Vase, Execution: Wiener Werkstätte, 1904
Wien Museum, Vienna
229
HEADS OF THE SECESSIONS
To this day, Klimt, Stuck, and Liebermann are still the most famous painters and formative personalities of the Secessions. For artists who were still emerging at the time, such as Corinth, Slevogt, and Munch, the innovative exhibitions functioned as a career springboard. However, the associations each consisted of around one hundred full members and just as many corresponding members, the majority of whom are less well known today. In addition, there were numerous exhibiting artists who were not members.
The great diversity of this group, as well as the increasing desire to emphasize individuality, found expression in numerous portraits of and self-portraits by the Secessionists. The Russian Ries, a resident of Vienna, immortalized herself in an almost life-size portrait at least as self-confidently as her sculptor colleague Schimko-
witz was staged by Andri. Hallavanya reproduces herself in similarly critical introspection as Corinth, with the artist using a bright palette to immerse her studio in a sunny, Impressionistic mood. In contrast, Krämer appears as a smoking bohemian in his detailed self-portrait. In addition to the studio portraits, there are also precise character studies, such as the works by Stuck and Slevogt, in which the pictorial detail is limited to the head. These pictures reflect in their diversity the wide range of artistic and stylistic possibilities within the Secessions.
Among the heads are also gallerists such as Paul Cassirer, the critic Hans Rosenhagen, and the art patron Harry Graf Kessler. In 1903, the latter contributed to the founding of a supra-regional association of the Secession movement with his initiative for the Deutscher Künstlerbund (Association of German Artists). RG
HEADS
286
LOVIS CORINTH
Hans Rosenhagen, 1899 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
OF THE SECESSIONS
287
FRANZ VON STUCK
Self-Portrait, 1899 Museum Villa Stuck, Munich
288
FERDINAND ANDRI
Othmar Schimkowitz, Sculptor, 1900
Wien Museum, Vienna
THE SECESSIONS
HEADS OF
289
TERESA FEODOROWNA RIES
Self-Portrait, 1902
Wien Museum, Vienna
HEADS OF THE SECESSIONS
290
LOVIS CORINTH
Self-Portrait without Collar, 1900 Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin
291
EMILIE VON HALLAVANYA
Self-Portrait, ca. 1905 Lenbachhaus Munich
HEADS
292
MAX SLEVOGT
Self-Portrait, 1888 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
OF THE SECESSIONS
293
FRITZ VON UHDE
Self-Portrait, 1904
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
HEADS
294
LOVIS CORINTH
The Painter Leistikow, 1900 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
OF THE SECESSIONS
295
MAX SLEVOGT
Portrait of Bruno Cassirer, 1911 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
HEADS OF THE SECESSIONS
296
JOHANN VICTOR KRÄMER
Self-Portrait by the Fireplace, 1889 Wien Museum, Vienna
297
ANNA HILLERMANN
Self-Portrait in the Studio, ca. 1900 Lenbachhaus Munich
HEADS
298
KOLOMAN (KOLO) MOSER
Self-Portrait, ca. 1910 Wien Museum, Vienna
OF THE SECESSIONS
299
EDVARD MUNCH
Harry Graf Kessler, 1906 Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie
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