Neue Wave Art

A friend of mine sent me this article from Thursday’s New York Times, entitled “Fin-de-Siècle Hothouse, Plush and Neurotic.”  It’s about a new exhibition at the Neue Galerie in New York City, “Vienna 1900: Style and Identity,” focusing on turn-of-the-century Viennese art and design (big surprise, right?). 

It’s often easy to forget that the phenomena of the fin-de-siècle were not limited to any one country.  Most often talked about are France and its Belle Époque and England with its Gay 90s.  But, as the Neue Galerie shows, Vienna had a lot to offer.  It’s design was decades ahead, and its artists drew on a variety of styles and inspirations that had been lost to the rest of Europe for decades or centuries. Check out the article at the NY Times, it’s quite a good read.

I’m a sucker for museum shops, and the Neue Galerie has one of the best.  They bring authentic Viennese craft to the States, rather that selling kitschy recreations.  I would absolutely kill for these cufflinks, but for what they cost I’d rather save up for the Klimt.