PAST FURNITURE EXHIBITIONS

Illustrated Catalogues are available for the exhibitions listed below (with the exception of Betty Joel exhibition) at £5 each + p & p.

THE SECESSIONISTS 1900 - 1930

An exhibition presented by The Antique Trader and David Bonsall from 24 November to 19 December 1999

In 1892 the Munich Secession was declared. This was the first manifestation of the discontent among the young artistic communities of Europe. In Munich, Cologne and Darmstadt, artists such as Richard Riemerschmid, Albin Müller and Peter Behrens were working with new ideals and principles.

In Vienna, which was ideally placed at the centre of the Austro-Hungarian empire, voices of discontent were also being raised in the late 1890s. Here was a perfect meeting place for intellectuals and artists. There was an abundance of music, philosophy, medicine and the visual arts. However the prevailing art was of a revivalist nature, nostalgic and quite unsuited to the developing age of the machine and industrial design.

Café society played an important part in the art world and in March 1897 the Austrian Association of Artists was formed in the Griensteidl coffee-house. This was a group that, because of its anti-establishment principles, became known as the Vienna Secession.

Extract from the essay in our catalogue for the exhibition.