Art Nouveau (Graphic) vs Vienna Secession

Vienna Secession is the cross-discipline counterpart of Art Nouveau (Graphic) — the Secession poster — the graphic face of the same Viennese movement.

Alphonse Mucha — JOB cigarette papers poster (1896)

Art Nouveau (Graphic)

The poster and print language of the Belle Époque — sinuous 'whiplash' line, idealized women wreathed in flowers and flowing hair, ornamental borders, and hand-drawn lettering fused into a single decorative whole.

  • Sinuous 'whiplash' lines and organic plant/vine motifs
  • Idealized female figures framed by flowing hair and flowers
  • Hand-drawn lettering integrated with the illustration
  • Decorative borders, halos, and arabesque framing devices
  • Flat, muted lithographic colour — gold, ochre, sage, rose
Full Art Nouveau (Graphic) guide →
Secession Building, Vienna — Vienna Secession

Vienna Secession

The Viennese branch of Art Nouveau, founded by artists who seceded from the conservative academy — pairing clean geometric massing with concentrated zones of gilded, stylised ornament.

  • Clean cubic white volumes with broad unbroken planes
  • Ornament concentrated into deliberate accents
  • Gilded stylised foliage — the famous laurel-leaf dome
  • Rectilinear, geometric discipline tempering Art Nouveau curves
  • Gesamtkunstwerk unity of building, interior, and graphics
Full Vienna Secession guide →

At a glance

Art Nouveau (Graphic)Vienna Secession
Era1890–19101897–1918
DisciplineGraphic DesignArchitecture
RegionFrance, Austria, Belgium, United StatesAustria, Vienna, Central Europe
FamilyArt Nouveau, Belle ÉpoqueArt Nouveau
Formal traitsorganic-line, ornamental, hand-letteredgeometric, gilded, white, ornamented

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