Hidden Modernism: The Fascination with the Occult Around 1900

From auratic presences to mediumistic drawings--an account of the occult's role in the art of Vienna's Lebensreform movement

Around 1900, a nature-oriented way of life, spiritism and theosophy inspired artists from Arnold Schoenberg to Egon Schiele. Hidden Modernism is the first to explore the occult aspects of the "Lebensreform" movement in Vienna. In the late 19th century, criticism of industrialized society's materialism reached Vienna. Spiritism and theosophy inspired many who were looking for a "better self." Painters such as Albert von Keller and Gabriel von Max documented their trance states, Gertrude Honzatko-Mediz created mediumistic drawings, the writer August Strindberg painted dark landscape visions, artists such as Richard Gerstl, Arnold Schoenberg, Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka and Max Oppenheimer saw their models as auratic presences. Through intensively researched scholarly texts and abundant artwork images and archival photographs, this volume examines the search for the "New Human" in Vienna without ignoring the darker aspects of magical thinking.