Subscribe
Search
ePaper
Newsletters
Subscribe
ePaper
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Search
Books
review

A hefty tome on the arts of the Austro-Hungarian belle époque

The extraordinary mitteleuropäische flourishing of all the arts from 1900 to 1914

Aldo Scardinelli
14 February 2019
Share
Hermann Drawe, Flop House (1904) © IMAGNO / Austrian Archives

Hermann Drawe, Flop House (1904) © IMAGNO / Austrian Archives

Joseph Roth, Stefan Zweig and Gregor von Rezzori are the presiding geniuses behind this book. It reinforces their nostalgia for the last days (as they turned out) of the rule of "der Franzl" (otherwise, His Imperial Majesty, Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, etc etc). This door-stop of a book weighing in at half a stone covers all the art aspects of that incredibly fertile, now lost world: painting, drawing, applied and decorative arts, architecture, and the companies and institutions that helped to create this renaissance. Yet all was not well, as Hermann Drawe’s 1904 Flop-House clearly shows. A very brief epilogue discusses why this moment vanished, failing to note that it was the cosmopolitan nature of the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself was the matrix that caused it in the first place and that it was ethnic nationalism that tore it down. It is a beautifully illustrated and well presented book marred only by the wretched sans-serif typeface throughout.

  • Christian Brandstätter, Daniela Gregori and Rainer Metzger, Vienna 1900 Complete, Thames & Hudson, 544pp, £85 (hb)
BooksArchitectureDecorative artsAvant-gardeBook ShortsAustro-HungaryArt Nouveau
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
LinkedIn
© The Art Newspaper