The relationship between Austria and Scotland was tainted by the war, but the link between the two countries remained prevalent in the art created in both Vienna and Glasgow. In 1900, praised by German and Austrian magazines, the Glasgow Four (consisting of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Hubert James McNair, and Frances and Margaret MacDonald) were commissioned to design an interior for the Vienna Secession. Glasgow played its own part in the creation of this movement away from tradition. With posters in the streets, the roads of Vienna became the “art gallery for the poor man”. Art became fleeting, yet accessible a contrast to institutions such as the official Vienna Academy of the Arts, the Vienna Künstlerhaus, and official art salons, which kept art in a realm for the upper classes. The artists of the Vienna Secession were famous for their posters, showcasing the exhibitions held in the building, designed by artists such as Koloman Moser and Alfred Roller. I was lucky enough to live the past year in Vienna and the contrast of the classical buildings on the Ringstrasse against Olbrich’s Secession building is a refreshingly modern corner of a very traditional city – the sign of an underground rebellion away from the conservatism of artistic institutions. Above the entrance read the slogan, “To every age its art, to every art its freedom”, symbolically contrasted to the city that they believed to be stuck in its ways. In 1898 Joseph Olbrich was selected to design a new exhibition space in Vienna, in order to display the designs of the Secessionist artists. A unification of painting, architecture and decorative arts was at the forefront of the movement, pioneered by artists such as Klimt, Otto Wagner, and Wilhelm Bernatzik. The progressive move towards decorative and applied arts, as opposed to fine art and sculpture, was not showcased in Vienna due to the tradition of conservatism in the Association of Austrian Artists. The Secession’s main goal was global connection, as well as a move away from artistic nationalism, something ingrained in the Austrian culture of the time. The Vienna Secession was a branch of the Art Nouveau style movement, formed in 1897 by symbolist painter Gustav Klimt, famous for his paintings The Kiss and The Three Ages of Woman. It is not a debate over aesthetics, but a confrontation between two different spiritual states." – Hermann Bahr “The choice between commerce and art is the issue at stake in our Secession. Following her year abroad in Vienna, Fashion Editor Megan Farrimond discusses the Vienna Secession and its hidden links to art in Glasgow.
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