---
type: exposition
title: Decadence - Aspects of Austrian Symbolism
language: en
url: "https://www.belvedere.at/en/decadence-aspects-austrian-symbolism"
---

# Decadence - Aspects of Austrian Symbolism 

![Dekadenz - Positionen des österreichischen Symbolismus](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/header_cropped_1920x480_fp/public/jart-images/_439886222263.jpg.webp?itok=5VnctuPN) 

**Duration:** 21 June 2013 - 13 October 2013

In summer 2013, the Belvedere will be the first museum to highlight the multifaceted positions of Austrian Symbolism in a large-scale exhibition. An in-depth exploration of this significant movement in Austrian art around 1900, which has hitherto almost exclusively been addressed in partial aspects, is long overdue. As a first step, the exhibition is meant to present a general overview of the development and the various positions of the Symbolist approach in Austria and Central Europe.   
As early as the 1870s, Symbolism started to evolve from the spirit of décadence, which discovered for itself the cryptic aestheticism of decay and of the mystical and unfathomable. The Symbolist movement superseded the official style of Historicist painting, shifting its focus to the subjective perspective of psychological processes, which found expression in a suggestive language of colour and form. Its abandonment of banal reality led some artists to create idylls, while others invented cosmic visions.  
This new aestheticism, propagated by such artists as Max Klinger, Franz von Stuck, Fernand Khnopff, and Jan Toorop, was transmitted in Austria and Central Europe first and foremost via the Vienna Secession. In Austria, Rudolf Jettmar, Alfred Kubin, and Karl Mediz turned out to be among the most consistent exponents of Symbolism. Yet Symbolist ideas also played an important role for leading personalities of the avant-garde, including Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Koloman Moser.  
The exhibition presents works by Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Giovanni Segantini, Gustave Moreau, Max Klinger, Arnold Böcklin, Jan Toorop, Fernand Khnopff, Alfred Kubin, Franz von Stuck, Luigi Bonazza, Wilhelm Bernatzik, Wilhelm List, Maximilian Lenz, Erich Mallina, Rudolf Jettmar, Eduard Veith, Frantisek Kupka, Maximilian Pirner, Karl Mediz, Arnold Clementschitsch, Koloman Moser, Wenzel Hablik, Ernst Stöhr, Oskar Kokoschka, and others.  

The exhibition is realized with the kind support of the UNIQA.

### [Lower Belvedere](https://www.belvedere.at/en/visit/lower-belvedere)

**Opening hours:** Monday to Sunday, 10 am - 6 pm

**Address:** Lower Belvedere, 1030 Vienna ([Getting there](<https://www.google.com/maps?q=Lower Belvedere,+Rennweg 6,+1030+Vienna>))

[Tickets](https://www.belvedere.at/en/tickets?location%5B0%5D=3)

## Impressions

- ![Dekadenz - Positionen des österreichischen Symbolismus — Karl Mediz, Roter Engel, 1902 © Privatbesitz, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_439886222263_0.jpg.webp?itok=R0BEVIem)
- ![Dekadenz - Positionen des österreichischen Symbolismus — Decadence - Aspects of Austrian Symbolism — © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_439886222271.jpg.webp?itok=LrmNlT4l)
- ![Oil on canvas  215 x 340 cm — Adolf Hiremy-Hirschl. Souls at the River Acheron — © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_439886222269.jpg.webp?itok=hgSpB0_K)
- ![Oil on canvas  105 x 200 cm — Giovanni Segantini. The Evil Mothers — © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_439886222264.jpg.webp?itok=FDhvgX54)
- ![Oil on canvas  74 x 49.5 cm — Eduard Veith. The King´s Daughter — © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/jart-images/_439886222262.jpg.webp?itok=5DD6AsAf)