Vienna - Secession (Art Gallery)

The exhibition gallery of the Artists' Union is easily recognized on account of its remarkable cupola in the form of a bronze laurel bush, popularly known as "the golden cabbage". The building was designed by Josef Olbrich, a disciple of Otto Wagner, in 1898, and was the first and epoch-making example of Viennese Art Nouveau (called "Wiener Jugendstil" or sometimes "Secessionstil"). It was damaged during the war and robbed of its treasures in 1945, but was restored and opened again in 1964. Reconstruction since 1986 has made it possible to put on musical and theatrical performances and video displays. The need for the building arose after 1892 when the Union of Young Artists under the leadership of the painter Gustav Klimt "seceded from" the more conservative Künstlerhaus group. In 1897 the still surviving Artists' Union, called "Secession", came into being under the motto "To the time its art - to art its freedom" and created the artistic style that bears the same name. The huge Mark Anthony bronze group by Arthur Strasser on the east side of the building is especially noteworthy. The Roman statesman's lion drawn chariot was displayed at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. Today in the Secession building visitors can see Gustav Klimt's masterpiece, the Beethoven Frieze. This huge mural measuring some 70sq.m/270sq.ft in area on the theme of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony was painted for the 14th exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1902. The State purchased it for nearly £1,000,000/US$1,500,000 in 1973 and had it restored in 1977 at a cost of £400,000/US$600,000. It is now once more "at home" in a newly built room in the basement where it can be viewed.