Enjoying the Culture 161Secession
Secession, or Secessionstil, and Secessionism are often
erroneously associated with Jugendstil. Secession was not
an art form, but the ideology or school of thought behind
Jugendstil. Members of the Secession had belonged to the old
school Künstlerhaus. Wanting to establish a modern approach
to exhibitions, with less focus on commercialisation and
more attention on a purified view of art, they drew the term
Secession from the Roman Secessio plebis, whereby the plebs
withdrew from the patricians due to the latter’s misrule.
The men who first joined to form the Secession were Otto
Wagner, Gustav Klimt, Josef Maria Olbrich, Kolo Moser, Carl
Moll and Rudolf von Alt. They had a museum built, designed
by Olbrich, and called it the Secession. Its golden laurel dome
became known as the ‘cabbagehead’. Inside the museum sat
a statue of Beethoven, a symbol of misunderstood artists.
During that time, they also published a magazine, Ver Sacrum,
which publicised Jugendstil art and provided a mouthpiece
for their artistic and political demands.
Architecture
Otto Wagner (1841–1918)
Wagner was one of the foremost leaders of the Secession,
but he also became known as the father of modern Viennese
architecture and the educator of an entire generation. Wagner
believed that new styles in art and architecture usually
followed great social change. However, the social changes
of the end of the 19th century happened so fast that the
development of art could hardly match them. Instead, artists
were copying styles of days gone by in a movement called
Historicism. He condemned the style and pushed instead for
something that fit modern man’s need, something utilitarian.
In his book Moderne Architektur, he says, ‘Modern forms
must correspond to new materials, contemporary needs, if
they are to be found suitable for mankind today. They must
embody our own development, our democracy, our self-
confidence, our idealism. They must take into account the
colossal technical and scientific advances of our age, as well
as the practical requirements of society.’