Passion, sexuality and women: these themes played a central role in art nouveau, at the end of the 19th century, in painting, architecture, graphics and sculpture as well as applied art. Sexualized, naked, mostly female bodies adorned paintings, but also pieces of jewelry, glasses, vases and pieces of furniture of the time. In doing so, the artists subverted the narrowness of the bourgeois moral code with the help of a centuries-old technique: They often relocated their erotic depictions to the idealized legends of antiquity and Christian allegories.
The deadly snake head of a gruesomely beautiful Medusa, the innocent, playful teasing of bathing nymphs or the sublime nudity of ancient heroines: In Art Nouveau, female sexuality appears in the form of femme fatale, who erotically binds men to itself with magical features and tempts them to sin – sometimes in the form of the delicate, fragile and highly sensitive femme fragile, who only escapes her inward-looking tendency to morbidity under the protection of a strong man. In the works of the “painter prince” Franz von Stuck, too, passion, sexuality and women played a central role – in almost every one of his paintings, drawings and sculptures.
A large number of his sensual and imaginative works as well as numerous other well-known artist colleagues – and there were “only” colleagues (and no artist colleagues) – can now be seen in the current exhibition “La Belle Époque – Art Nouveau” at the Städtische Galerie Rosenheim. The show leads back to the aesthetics of the time and presents internationally known, but also regional works of Art Nouveau – and not just painting, but also applied art (such as jewelry combs, furniture or glasses), graphics and architecture. For the exhibition “La Belle Époque”, the art historian and curator Olena Balun has selected exhibits from the collection of the Städtische Galerie Rosenheim, Schloss Neubeuen, the Munich City Museum, the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus Munich as well as from private collections and thus a multitude of genres that Art Nouveau penetrated, brought together.
Visitors are invited until May 1, 2022 to immerse themselves in the multifaceted elegance of the “Belle Époque” and to discover the sensual refinements. Due to the current regulations, the 2G-plus rule currently applies (however, there is no test requirement for triple vaccinations). An FFP2 mask must be worn throughout the building (up to twelve years of age: medical mask). The current visitor regulations can be found on the gallery’s homepage.