Vienna: Art and Design National Gallery of Victoria

Graham Abbott begins by exploring an incredibly dynamic moment in history: Vienna, at the start of the twentieth-century. The revolutionary spirit of reform of the late 1800’s lead to great feats of urban planning, modern engineering and architecture.

Here we are introduced to Karl Lueger, Vienna’s Mayor from 1893 to 1910. Lueger’s tenure as Mayor incorporated many successes including the appointment of talents, such as Otto Wagner, to design innovative new buildings for the new metropolis.

The Postal Savings Bank of 1903 was the ultimate manifestation of Otto Wagner’s functional and aesthetic principles and one of Vienna’s most significant examples of early modern architecture.

In the late 1890’s Otto Wagner announced a new way forward for modern architecture and design. Here we take a look at a reconstruction of Wagner’s extraordinary façade for the telegraphic offices of Die Zeit.

The Vienna Secession was established in 1897 by a group of discontented young artists, designers and architects who set out to explore art unencumbered by the constraints of the academic system.

To honour the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, in 1902 the Vienna Seccession held a great exhibition. This memorable event exemplifies the underlining vision of the group: the concept of gesamtkunstwerk, the total work of art.