GUSTAV KLIMT AND THE VIENNESE AVANTGARDE

One hundred years after the unveiling of Gustav Klimt's The Kiss, this masterpiece and other extraordinary works that made up the landmark Kunstschau exhibition in 1908 are once again brought together at the Lower Belvedere Museum in Vienna and in this book that accompanies the exhibition. The original exhibit, created by Klimt and his contemporaries Josef Hoffman, Otto Pritscher, Koloman Moser and others, was installed in an empty field in the center of Vienna. Housed in wooden structures that accommodated more than fifty rooms, gardens, interior courtyards, a cafe and a stage, the show featured an eclectic collection of paintings, sculptures, works of graphic and decorative art and stage designs by more than 170 artists. The 2008 reproduction of the original exhibit, though smaller in scale, features replicas of some of the former exhibition rooms, a large selection of the original artworks first presented at the Kunstschau in 1908 documentary photographs, models, and plans. All are reproduced in this book and are accompanied by numerous essays from leading scholars of the Vienna School. Monumental in significance and size, this catalog is a sumptuous tribute to a trailblazing moment in the history of art and design.