When Did Art Deco Begin? The Role of the Secessionist Movement

Trans Lux, The Journal of the Art Deco Society of Washington, 2013

27 Pages Posted: 15 Feb 2020

See all articles by Barbara Pfeffer Billauer

Barbara Pfeffer Billauer

Institute of World Politics; International Program in Bioethics, U. of Porto; Foundation for Law and Science Centers, Inc.

Date Written: August 8, 2013

Abstract

Convention is to date the beginnings of Art Deco contemporaneously with the much acclaimed International Exposition held in 1925 in Paris, the theme of which was to celebrate what was ‘new’ in art, architecture and design; (the actual name ‘Art Deco’ was not coined until the 1960s) . This would be consistent with those claiming was the Bauhaus movement, which began in 1919, incepted the Art Deco form, and also lend credence to those dating the beginnings of the movement even earlier – to the costumes and sets of Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes in 1911 and Paul Poiret’s Orientalism in fashion in 1912. But in Vienna, we see broad-outlines of the Art Deco form emerging in the early 1900s, about the time of the origin of the Secessionist Movement. It is this time portal, the years between 1900 and 1908, that is of interest to us here in determining its role in the development of Art Deco . In this article, we will look at the role of the Secessionist Movement and that of its founders, Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann and early members, such as Otto Wagner, in terms of its introduction of forms and techniques which were later to become associated with Art Deco. We will also examine the unique contribution of the Austrian art scene and Viennese Urban Planning in Cultural Statecraft that resulted from the cross-boundary transmission of designs.

Keywords: art deco, secessionism, Group of Seven, Klimt Group, Klimt, Moser, Hoffman, Wagner, Modernism, Paris Expo

JEL Classification: B3, B30, B31, D33, D39, Z10

Suggested Citation

Billauer, Barbara P., When Did Art Deco Begin? The Role of the Secessionist Movement (August 8, 2013). Trans Lux, The Journal of the Art Deco Society of Washington, 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2307355

Barbara P. Billauer (Contact Author)

Institute of World Politics ( email )

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International Program in Bioethics, U. of Porto ( email )

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Foundation for Law and Science Centers, Inc. ( email )

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