Music & Art | Klimt & Beethoven: Artistic Rebellion in Fin de Siècle Vienna

Step into 19th century Vienna with art historian Sarah Jaffray as she unpacks the rich cultural tapestry behind Gustav Klimt’s mesmerizing Beethoven Frieze.

At the dawn of the 20th century, Vienna was ablaze with radical ideas and artistic rebellion. Klimt and his fellow artists of the Vienna Seccession were breaking free from tradition, while Freud was charting the unconscious mind, Wittgenstein was reshaping language, and Mahler was composing symphonies that stirred the depths of human emotion. At the heart of this intellectual revolution stood Beethoven - an icon of visionary introspection and creative defiance.

Through Klimt’s tribute to the composer, created for the groundbreaking 1902 Secession exhibition, we’ll explore how Beethoven inspired a generation of artists and thinkers at this pivotal time in European history.

Sarah Jaffray is an art historian, educator, curator and writer who focuses on modern art, particularly focused on philosophy, politics and artistic process. She currently leads the art history programme at City Lit, and prior to this worked as lead educator for the Bridget Riley Art Foundation in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. Jaffray has also worked at the Wellcome Collection exploring the connections of art, medicine and human experience, and was also a tenured professor of Art History based in Los Angeles. She regularly gives lectures for Art Historical London, LEVEL, London Art Salon, City Lit and University of Arts, London.

The talk will serve as an introduction to the topic, and no prior knowledge is necessary to join us! Attend live at the Museum or stream online from your sofa. This event is part of the public programming for our exhibition A Grand Chorus: The Power of Music.

Tickets are available to watch either ONLINE or IN-PERSON at the Foundling Museum; in-person tickets include Museum entry.