THE KUNSTSCHAU 1908

Following disagreement within the Secession and the spectacular leaving of the “Klimt-Group”, the inscription “To the time its art, to art its freedom” was removed from its building’s doors in 1907 and made the motto of the Kunstschau 1908, an exhibition that is still regarded as trailblazing for the development of Modern Art in Vienna.

The Kunstschau 1908 was conceived by numerous artists around Gustav Klimt and coincided with the celebrations held in Vienna on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Francis Joseph I. The artists were not invited to participate in the imperial procession but were offered the use of construction land as an exhibition venue which had been designated for the location of the Konzerthaus in the city centre and was temporarily lying fallow.

In only a few months, Josef Hoffmann, Gustav Klimt, Otto Prutscher, Koloman Moser, and others built and furnished wooden structures accommodating 54 exhibition rooms, gardens, interior courtyards, a small cemetery, a café, and a summer stage - as well as a two-storey, completely furnished country house. Painting, sculpture, the graphic and decorative arts, and stage design were combined to create a Gesamtkunstwerk – a synthesis of the arts – on exhibition premises covering 6,500 square metres. Indoor and outdoor floor space, walls, and showcases were filled and covered with works by 176 artists, including Carl Moll, Franz Kupka, Max Oppenheimer and numerous students from the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, like Oskar Kokoschka.

The art historian Werner Hofmann described the concurrence of the procession – the Kaiserjubiläumshuldigungsfestzug – and the Kunstschau as a “synopsis of the monarchy’s official art and intellectual histories”. Whereas the procession staged the Habsburg monarchy’s long tradition and national diversity, Gustav Klimt, in his opening speech, declared the Kunstschau to be “a display of the performance of artistic volition in Austria”, compiled by artists who “were not affiliated with a collective, an association, or a league”, but who had “gathered in an informal fashion solely for the purpose of this exhibition”.

Notwithstanding the euphoric press reviews, the public failed to show up at the "large-scale show“ - Berta Zuckerkandl wrote in the Neues Wiener Journal: “Hevesi, Richard Muther, and I frequently met at the small café at the Kunstschau, deliberating how to counter the […] campaign against the Kunstschau. ‘It’s futile,’ Hevesi said, ‘but in twenty years it will turn out that we were right.’”

THE EXHIBITION

On the occasion of its 100th anniversary, the show is going to be revived in the Belvedere’s exhibition: as from October, a part of the original exhibits – which will partly be presented in replicas of the former exhibition rooms – and additional works by artists that were presented at the Kunstschau 1908 as well as documentary photographs, models, original plans, and a film, will serve to illustrate the details and dimensions of this extraordinary event. An architectural model will demonstrate the location of the Kunstschau premises within their urban context.

An authentic spatial experience is going to be conveyed by three halls to be reconstructed in their entirety: “Room 50”, with works by leading members of the Wiener Werkstätte, “Room 10”, with reproduced posters pasted directly onto the walls as they were then, and “Room 22” which was designed by Koloman Moser using major works by Gustav Klimt, the highlights of the show – both then and today. Among other works, Gustav Klimt presented Fritza Riedler (1906), Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), The Three Ages of Woman (1905), Danaë (1907/08) and his most famous work The Kiss (1908), which was acquired for the collection now housed in the Belvedere while the exhibition was still running.

Further exhibits come from the former rooms devoted to “Theatre Art”: Richard Teschner’s monumental glass mosaics and puppets, stage designs by Alfred Roller, and a two-metre-high costume design by Emil Orlik for Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale, staged by Max Reinhardt. For “Room 27”, Otto Prutscher had designed an impressive wall ensemble of marble, ornamental brass sheet, and a glazed display cabinet; its individual parts have been assembled from all over  Europe and now appear reunited.

From the original room “Art for Children”, Magda Mautner von Markhof’s doll’s house has been made available as a loan; the “General Painting” section is represented by works of Adolf Hölzel, Wilhelm List, Leopold Blauensteiner, Maximilian Kurzweil, Broncia Koller-Pinell, Elena Luksch-Makowska and others. Research conducted for this exhibition has led to a new scholarly approach to  numerous artists who appeared in the Kunstschau and have largely fallen into  oblivion today, such as the sculptor Franz Metzner, to whose work the Kunstschau devoted two rooms.

The Inauguration Speech by Gustav Klimt In occasion of the opening of the Kunstschau on  June 1, 1908 “Ladies and Gentlemen, it has been four years since we last had an opportunity to show you the results of our work in an exhibition. As you know, we do not consider exhibitions an ideal forum through which to bring artists and audience together; one of the things we’d much rather do to this end is work on major public art projects.

Yet, as long as public life is occupied mostly with economic and political matters, exhibitions are the only option available to us. So we ought to be highly grateful to all the public and private factors that make it possible at this time to find a way to you and show you that during these years without exhibitions we have not been idle. Rather—perhaps precisely because we were not troubled by exhibitions—we worked on developing our ideas with additional diligence and passion.

We are not a cooperative, nor a society, nor an alliance; instead, we came together in an informal fashion strictly for the purposes of this exhibition, bound together solely by the conviction that no sphere of human life is too insignificant or low to provide space for artistic endeavors. Speaking in the words of Morris, even the most unremarkable object, if carried out with accomplishment, will add to the beauty of the world, and only the progressive permeation of all of life with artistic intentions can provide a basis for the progress of culture. In line with this, this exhibition will not present the final results of artistic careers. Rather, it is a show of force of Austrian ambitions in art, and a faithful report on the current state of culture in our empire. We define the concept of “artwork” as widely as that of “artist.”

To us, the term not only applies to those who create, but also to those who enjoy—those, who are capable of emotionally reliving something created, and to appreciate it. To us, “art community” refers to an ideal community of creators and enjoyers.  That this community actually exists, and that it is powerful and mighty because of its youth and strength, and the purity of its ethics, is proven by the fact that this house could be built, and that this exhibition has opened. And that is why it is an entirely futile attempt on the part of our opponents to talk of the modern art movement as dead, or to fight against it, for this fight is directed against growing and becoming—against life itself. I wish to thank all those who worked with us for their diligence, their joyful readiness to sacrifice, and their faithfulness. I also thank our patrons and supporters who made it possible to develop this exhibition, and, as I invite you for a tour of the exhibition, I declare the Kunstschau 1908 open.”

Source: Catalogue of the Kunstschau 1908

The Imperial Crown Jubilee Homage Pageant, 1908

It is June 12th, 1908. All of Vienna is celebrating Emperor Franz Joseph’s 60th Crown Jubilee. The main event of the festivities is a spectacular pageant. It commences from the Prater, leads around the Ringstrasse, on to the Kai, and then back to the Prater. The procession of twelve thousand costume-wearing participants is intended to be inclusive. It is created as a representation of a glorious past as well as the multi-cultural presence of the House of Austria.

Under the direction of Heinrich Lefler, the first nineteen historical groups representing rulers such as Rudolph I and Emperor Maximilian, march past astonished spectators. Scenes follow representing the Turkish sieges, Maria Theresia, along with the young Franz Joseph himself. The ethnic diversity of the empire is represented in the second part of the parade. These representatives of all the peoples of the Austrian Crown are welcomed with enthusiastic applause. Wearing traditional costumes and accompanied by music, they wave their respective national flags.

These are not the only impressions of the Crown Jubilee festivities; a surviving film fragment from 1908 also is shown at the Lower Belvedere. Short films of this kind enjoyed great popularity during the period. Vienna’s first cinema opened in 1896 and by 1908 there were sixty-two movie theaters, open from ten o’clock in the morning to eight at night. With an affordable fifty kreuzers entry fee, it was an amusement accessible to rich and poor alike.

Most newspapers, too, voiced strong approval of the Pageant. For instance, on July 13th the Freie Presse newspaper announced: “These were not just nationalities, this was Austria. A colorful mix of peoples in all their national and cultural variety, united by a single bond.” However, a report by Karl Krauss addresses the reality behind this beautiful illusion. It speaks of brawls, insults by committee members, and of the fact that the “Galicians and Silesians were forced to dance.” Observations like this reveal how fragile the bond among the peoples had become.

Editor's note: we gratefully acknowledge The Belvedere's contribution of this news release as a means to inform our readers about this important exhibition

General Information

• Guided Tours Guided tours of the exhibition Saturday, Sunday, Holiday at 3 pm, Wednesday 6 pm  Tel: +43 (01) 795 57-134 email: public@belvedere.at