Gustav Klimt: The Secession

 

Before the Secession was founded in 1897, the visual arts in Vienna were dominated by two bodies: The Academy of Fine Arts (Akadmeie der bildenden Künste) and the Association of Viennese Artists (Künstlerhausgenossenschaft). Neither of the two institutions was particularly innovative or revolutionary, in fact, the younger, more progressive artists of the Künstlerhaus usually met separately at cafes to discuss new and exciting art. These younger members sought to modernize the institution, and were able to usurp several important positions on juries and committees. Their influence quickly became noticeable; in 1894 they persuaded the Künstlerhaus to invite artists of the Munich Secession to have a show, just after they were prevented from attending the Third International Exhibition in Vienna. However, in 1894, a very conservative man, Eugen Felix, was elected president of the Künstlerhaus. The radical members quickly became agitated as their works, mainly impressionism, were not being showed at any of the institution's exhibits.

It finally came to the point where the younger members began to contemplate forming an independent institution for themselves. In April of 1897, a new society was officially formed under the title Austrian Association of Visual Artists (Vereinigung bildender Künstler Oesterreichs). It quickly became known simply as the Secession, and Gustav Klimt was elected president. Klimt in a letter to the Künstlerhaus wrote, "As the committee must be aware, a group of artists within the organization has for years been trying to make its artistic views felt. These views culminate in the recognition of the necessity of bringing artistic life in Vienna into more lively contact with the continuing development of art abroad, and of putting exhibitions on a purely artistic footing, free from any commercial considerations; of thereby awakening in wider circles a purified, modern view of art; and lastly, of inducing a heightened concern for art in official circles" (4) Originally, only seventeen of the forty founding members left the Künstlerhaus. But in May of 1897, passed a motion of censure on the members of the Secession. Immediately, Klimt and twelve other artists resigned from the Künstlerhaus forever. By 1899, all members of the Secession resigned from the Künstlerhaus. Although at this point Klimt's style hadn't become as individual and daring as would eventually become, his role as leader in founding the Secession shows Klimt believed in artistic progression towards something different and modern.

With the Secession's founding explained, it should now be made clear precisely what these young artists intended to accomplish with their new institution. The Secession was not exclusive to any particular type of artist. It included painters, designers, graphic artists, typographers, and architects. Even within painting it included several sub genres- impressionists, naturalists, modernists, and stylists. The Secession's first and foremost goal was simply to bring foreign art to Vienna, to end cultural isolation. In the first issue of Ver Sacrum, the Secession's newspaper they declared, "We want to bring foreign art to Vienna not just for the sake of artists, academics, and collectors, but in order to create a great mass of people receptive to art, to awaken the desire which lies dormant in the breast of every man for beauty and freedom of thought and feeling." (5) The Secession backed up this proclamation by using the profit from their exhibits to purchase foreign art and give it as a gift to one of the public galleries of Vienna. By 1905, at least nineteen pieces by contemporary foreign masters resided in Vienna.

The Secession also strived to provide exposure for young unconventional artists of Vienna. Still, they noted that their goal was not to separate the modern from the traditional, but rather "to promote artists instead of the pedlars who would pass themselves off as artists and who benefit financially when true art cannot be appreciated." (6) The Secession was fighting for art itself. They didn't care about class or background or style; they cared simply about helping people create and expose art. The final goal of the Secession was to publish a newspaper. They did this in the form of Ver Sacrum, which translates to Sacred Spring. Each edition in itself was a piece of art, realizing new ideas of layout and design, mixing text and visual art.

The members of the Secession spent over a year preparing the first exhibit. Klimt designed a poster depicting the battle of Theseus and the Minataur, with Athena off to the side of the poster. Athena was a major theme in Klimt's work during the years of the Secession. Everything in the poster had symbolism. Theseus represented the struggle for the new, clarity, and light, while the Minataur represented darkness, and Athena, born from Zeus' head, represented wisdom. But they needed a place to hold their first exhibit. By November of 1898, the Secession building, designed by Secession member Joseph Maria Olbrich, was completed. Over 57,000 people saw the first exhihibit, which featured works by Secession members, along with works by several foreign artists, including Rodin, Whistler, Klinger, and Segantini. By the end of 1898, all of Vienna seemed to be in support of the Secession.

Throughout all of the Secession's support and approval by the rest of the art world, Gustav Klimt was in the middle of it all. The first exhibit, along with several of the other initial exhibits, provided Klimt an opportunity to show the development in his style, which at this point was undergoing a large amount of change. He helped select material for all of the exhibits, but unfortunately, not much else is known about his work for the Secession. After eight years of success, after twenty-three historical exhibits, Klimt and eighteen other significant artists left the Secession. It never recovered. These artists left because other members of the Secession, primarily naturalists, who were more traditional, were engaging in commercial exchanges, making a business out of the Secession. Klimt would not stand for this. The artists who left formed an organization named Klimt-gruppe. In 1906, the group renamed itself the Österreichischer Künstlerbund (Austrian Artist' Association).

 

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