Poster for the 16th Exhibition at the Vienna Secession, 1902/03

Alfred Roller (1864–1935) came from Brno to Vienna to study at the Academy of Fine Arts and later became a co-founder and president of the Vienna Secession. During his membership, he also worked for the movement as an exhibition and poster designer. Like in this poster, created for the 16th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1903, he combined simplifying flat stylization with a high degree of ornamental abstraction. Within just a few years after the publication of the lithographs of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901), the poster fad had spread throughout Europe. Typical of the posters designed by artists in Vienna around 1900 were distorted lettering and dissonant color combinations which led to abstract-looking compositions. Roller launched a visual attack of sorts to capture also the attention of those uninterested in art. His unconventional juxtapositions of colors caused irritation and hence intensified perception.

BL, 2021