# Vienna Secession

> The Viennese break with academic art led by Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Josef Hoffmann and Alfred Roller, which pulled Art Nouveau toward the square, the grid and the flat plane. Its exhibition posters, the journal Ver Sacrum and Wiener Werkstätte graphics enclose stylised figures and dense geometric lettering in rectangular frames, in black, white and gold, with severe symmetrical clarity.

- Period: 1897–1918
- Where: Central Europe
- Origin: Vienna, Austria-Hungary
- Branch: Craft & organic
- Also known as: Wiener Secession, Secessionstil, Wiener Werkstätte style
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/vienna-secession/

## How it works

- Compose within a square or strongly rectangular frame and lock elements into blocks, bands and panels.
- Draw custom capitals that interlock and stretch to fill their rectangle, even at some cost to legibility.
- Replace Art Nouveau's tendrils with squares, chequers, dots and stylised flowers in strict repetition.
- Use black, white and gold as the core palette, adding one or two flat accent colours.
- Leave generous white margins around a centred, symmetrical arrangement of image and text.
- Design lettering, ornament, objects and architecture as one Gesamtkunstwerk.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (defining)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (defining)
- [Modular grid](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/modular-grid/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Generous white space](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/generous-white-space/) (characteristic)
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (characteristic)
- [Measured density](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/measured-density/) (characteristic)

### Typography
- [Hand-lettering](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/hand-lettering/) (defining)
- [All caps](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-caps/) (characteristic)
- [Tight setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/tight-setting/) (characteristic)
- [Ornamented display](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/ornamented-display/) (characteristic)
- [Experimental & distorted](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/experimental-and-distorted/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (characteristic)
- [Jewel & metallic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/jewel-and-metallic/) (characteristic)
- [Light ground](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/light-ground/) (characteristic)

### Form & shape
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (defining)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (characteristic)
- [Stylised figuration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/stylised-figuration/) (characteristic)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)
- [Carved line](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/carved-line/) (occasional)

### Ornament
- [Geometric tessellation](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-tessellation/) (defining)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (characteristic)
- [Rules & bars](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rules-and-bars/) (characteristic)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (characteristic)
- [Line illustration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/line-illustration/) (characteristic)

### Medium & production
- [Lithography](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/lithography/) (characteristic)
- [Letterpress](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/letterpress/) (characteristic)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Utopian & idealistic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/utopian-and-idealistic/) (characteristic)
- [Luxurious & glamorous](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/luxurious-and-glamorous/) (characteristic)
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (occasional)

Avoids: Whiplash line, Diagonal axis, Collage & layering, Eclectic mixing, Straight photography, Illusion of depth

Palette: #f4f1e8, #141414, #b8913a, #a3282a, #3b5e4a

Typefaces: Alfred Roller's elongated, interlocking block capitals, Koloman Moser's geometric display lettering, Rudolf von Larisch's ornamental lettering (Unterricht in ornamentaler Schrift, 1905)

Known for: Gustav Klimt (poster for the 1st Secession exhibition, 1898); Koloman Moser; Alfred Roller (poster for the 14th Secession exhibition, 1902); Josef Hoffmann and the Wiener Werkstätte (1903–1932); Joseph Maria Olbrich (Secession Building, 1897–98); Ver Sacrum (1898–1903)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Grew out of: [Art Nouveau](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-nouveau.md) (1890–1910)
- Influenced by: [Glasgow Style](https://stylogeny.com/styles/glasgow-style.md) (1890–1914)
- Influenced by: [Arts & Crafts Movement](https://stylogeny.com/styles/arts-and-crafts.md) (1860–1920)
- Influenced by: [Japonisme](https://stylogeny.com/styles/japonisme.md) (1860–1910)
- Led to: [Art Deco](https://stylogeny.com/styles/art-deco.md) (1910–1939)
- Alike in its design choices: [Wendingen & Amsterdam School Typography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/wendingen.md) (1918–1932), 69% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Nieuwe Kunst (Dutch Art Nouveau)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/nieuwe-kunst.md) (1892–1914), 66% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Bezalel School](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bezalel-school.md) (1906–1929), 60% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Sápmi Graphic Identity (Duodji & Gákti Colour Code)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/sami-duodji.md) (1600–present), 59% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Soviet Central Asian Ornamental Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/soviet-central-asian-modernism.md) (1966–1999), 57% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Mir iskusstva Book Art](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mir-iskusstva.md) (1898–1927), 57% alike

## Real works

- [Ver Sacrum V. Jahr: XIII. Ausstellung der Vereinigung bildender Künstler Österreichs Secession](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ver_Sacrum_V_Jahn,_XIII_Ausstellung_..._Secession..._-_affiche_-_Kolo_Moser_-_btv1b52506931h.jpg): Koloman Moser; printed by A. Berger, Vienna, 1902, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica btv1b52506931h (via Wikimedia Commons)
- [Gustav Klimt: Secession XVIII. Ausstellung (Klimt retrospective poster)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustav_Klimt_._Secession_-_XVIII_Ausstellung_..._-_affiche_-_Gustave_Klimt_-_btv1b52506932z.jpg): Gustav Klimt; printed by A. Berger, Vienna, 1903, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica btv1b52506932z (via Wikimedia Commons)
- [Ver Sacrum: Theseus und Minotaurus, I. Kunstausstellung Secession (first exhibition poster, uncensored state)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ver_Sacrum._Thesus_und_Minotaurus._1_Kunstausstellung..._Secession_..._-_(affiche)_Version_avant_censure_-_Variante_de_format_-_Variante_de_coul._(ros%C3%A9e)_-_Gustav_Klimt_-_btv1b525069302.jpg): Gustav Klimt; printed by A. Berger, Vienna, 1898, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Gallica btv1b525069302 (via Wikimedia Commons)
- [Ver Sacrum, 1. Jahrgang, Heft 1 (January 1898), cover](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ver_Sacrum_1898_N01.png): Alfred Roller; published by Gerlach & Schenk, Vienna, January 1898, Heidelberg University Library (via Wikimedia Commons)

## Sources

- Philip B. Meggs & Alston W. Purvis, Meggs' History of Graphic Design
- Jane Kallir, Viennese Design and the Wiener Werkstätte (1986)
- Vienna Secession, history of the association (secession.at)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Vienna Secession”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/vienna-secession/