Vienna 1900

The Synthesis of Arts at the Fondation Beyeler

Around 1900, Vienna was a bustling metropolis, where great artists such as Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka were carving out reputations and the Wiener Werkstaette was taking decorative art to new heights. The current exhibition at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel presents an outstanding selection of loaned works in celebration of this unique period, when Jugendstil and Expressionism set the tone and avant-garde artists formed the group that became famous as the ‘Secession’. It was then that terms such as ‘Modernism’ and ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ were coined, and the visitor gains fascinating insights into their context: the synthesis of fine art and decorative art in attempts to integrate art and daily life. The audio guide by tonwelt not only provides information about key exhibits, but also gives a vivid impression of the Vienna art scene at the turn of the century, spiced with historical quotes. Extracts from the artists’ letters, essays, poems and prose writing enter into dialogue with their art, transforming an exhibition tour into an intriguing, many-faceted experience.

Visitors to the Fondation find out not only why Klimt portrayed the fine ladies of Vienna’s high society against dazzling patterns of gold leaf, but also how the master spent a typical summer’s day on holiday by the lake. Schiele’s expressive self-portraits gain added poignancy as the painter, who died young, explores his identity in lyric poetry. The practical aspects of the theoretical programme of the Wiener Werkstaette become clear in the company of elegant furniture designed by Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann. Carefully chosen excerpts from the music of the time accompany the commentaries on the exhibits and create a captivating atmosphere that enhances the visitor’s enjoyment of the art on display.

The tonwelt guide is also available on CD, which you can buy in the museum shop. It comes together with a booklet of high quality illustrations covering every work of art discussed in the guide. This makes it an ideal souvenir of the exhibition – and it’s also an original present for friends who are not able to visit the Fondation Beyeler by 16th January 2011.