Vienna at the turn of the 20th century witnessed a great surge
in scientific and artistic innovation, just a few years shy of the
collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Art Nouveau was prevalent throughout European art and
design and took a particularly strong hold in Germany,
where it was known as Jugendstil (youth-style). The
ubiquitous movement was epitomized at Munich, but took
on a unique form in Austria. The Union of Austrian Artists
was founded by the painter Gustav Klimt out of the coffeehouse
bohemian culture of Vienna and spurred by rebellion against
what was called “historicism”: the proclivity of the Vienna
Künstlerhaus towards conservative, classical forms.
Klimt and his followers considered the prevailing art of their
contemporaries as grievously out-dated, and unfit for
the changing social needs of a new machine age.
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