AUSTRIA
The Vienna Secession May 17–21, 2021 from £1745 per person | with Christopher Bourne
This tour will be led by Christopher Bourne, BA, who read History and French at the University of Manchester and lived and worked in Brussels for 15 years, where he was an architectural tour guide and a freelance translator and editor. His interest and enthusiasm for the art and architecture of the Vienna Secession and the Jugendstil is a natural progression from his knowledge of Art Nouveau. He is now based in London, where he is a member of the Victorian Society and the Twentieth Century Society.
Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt
• Discover the influential group of innovative young artists who ‘seceded’ from the Austrian art establishment in 1897, including Gustav Klimt and Otto Wagner • Understand the Secessionists’ links with their Art Nouveau and Jugendstil contemporaries and their influence on the Expressionist and Modernist movements • Enjoy guided architectural tours and visits to Vienna’s leading art museums Following their motto ‘To every Age its Art, to every Art its Freedom’, the Secessionists’ designs – from metro stations to office buildings, and from elaborately decorated apartment buildings and luxurious villas to churches – shaped the Viennese cityscape in the early years of the 20th century. The revolutionary art of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele and the extraordinarily modern-looking furniture and interiors designed by Josef Hoffmann and Kolomon Moser were a radical break from the conservatism of the 19th century Austro-Hungarian Empire. Our tour will include a visit to the movement’s elegant gallery, designed by Joseph Olbrich to house the first exhibitions of contemporary art in the city, now home to Klimt’s 34-metre long Beethoven Frieze. We will also pay visits to the Belvedere Museum, to see its large collection of other paintings by Klimt and Schiele, and to Klimt’s last studio in the suburb of Hietzing.
01223 841055
Other highlights will include a visit to Otto Wagner’s landmark Postal Savings Bank, views of his metro stations at Karlsplatz and Schönbrunn as well as his Majolika Haus apartment building, and a private tour of his masterpiece, the Church of St Leopold in the grounds of Steinhof Psychiatric Hospital.
FITNESS / PRACTICALITIES: This tour requires a good level of fitness and mobility, as it will involve significant amounts of walking and standing, including over cobbled streets and up steps. Some journeys will be made by tram.
The Secessionists’ use of the latest building technology and decorative techniques appealed to the period’s new industrial and commercial middle classes, and their designs and interiors remain popular today. We will see well-preserved examples of cafés, bars and shops, as well as furniture and homewares designed by the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshops) set up by Moser and Hoffmann in 1903, influenced by William Morris’s craft workshops in Great Britain.
Day 2 Morning: walking tour looking at buildings in the city centre (including Karlsplatz metro station designed by Wagner and Olbrich), followed by visit to the Secession Building (Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze). Afternoon: tour of ‘Vienna 1900’ and ‘Wiener Werkstätte’ galleries at the MAK (Museum of Applied Arts) followed by free time to explore the rest of the museum. Free evening.
We will stay throughout at the Hotel Mailberger Hof, an elegant family-run hotel situated in the historical First District.
Cost of £1745 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a superior twin or double bedded room, breakfast, four lunches, three dinners with wine, water & coffee, excursions & admissions, gratuities. Not included: travel insurance, superior double room for single use supplement £235. TOUR CODE: VISE21
Day 1 Depart London Heathrow 1220 on British Airways, arriving Vienna 1525. Transfer to Hotel Mailberger Hof for four nights. Introductory lecture.
Day 3 Morning: Majolika House, Schönbrunn metro station and villas in suburb of Hietzing (exteriors) followed by private tour of Klimt Villa & Studio. Afternoon: Wagner’s villas in Hütteldorf (exteriors) followed by private tour of Church of St Leopold in the grounds of Steinhof Psychiatric Hospital. Day 4 Morning: Wagner’s Postal Savings Bank and Belvedere Museum (Klimt/Schiele galleries). Afternoon: tour of ‘Vienna 1900’ galleries at the Leopold Museum followed by free time to explore the rest of the museum. Day 5 Morning lecture followed by visit to Karl Marx-Hof (famous 1920s housing complex) and Steinfeldgasse (Hoffmann villas – exteriors). Depart Vienna 1630, arriving London Heathrow 1750.
Please note that the itinerary represents a guide to what we hope to offer, and some elements may be subject to change or confirmation nearer the time.
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