The Secession Movement In Painting

“To the Age its Art, to Art its Freedom” was the motto of the Secession, founded as a revolt against the conventional norms of traditional Vienna. The motto itself is the ultimate testament to the artists’ cause—rejection of the use of historical context to describe the modern man. The Secession focused on dissolving the assumptions of traditional society and representing the modern man as he truly exists today, on a personal and psychological level. The movement was officially born in 1897, then called the “Union of Austrian Artists.” Seceding from the Vienna Künstlerhaus, the last generation of artists, Klimt (as their leader) wrote the following in a letter to the Association: “As the Committee knows, a group of artists, all members of the Association, have been trying for years to obtain recognition for their viewpoint. This viewpoint is: the realization of the need to intensify the contacts between Viennese art and developments in other countries; exhibitions to be organized on a purely artistic, non-commercial basis, thereby awakening a clearer and more modern understanding in a wider public; and lastly, the authorities to be encouraged to give greater support to the arts.” [Nebehay, Christian M. Gustav Klimt, From Drawing to Painting. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, 1994. Page 57].

Poster by Klimt for the first Secession exhibition in 1897