The turn of the 20th century was a fascinating period in Vienna, as Austria-Hungary's capital on the Danube became a leading center of modernism, defined by styles of art nouveau, historicism, and expressionism, all with a touch of typical Viennese morbidity. Artists like Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, and Josef Hoffmann dreamed of forging a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total artistic expression, in which not just design, architecture, and crafts were combined, but also art and life itself. In this sumptuously illustrated album, art historian Janina Nentwig explores such major movements as the construction of the Ring Road, the Vienna Secession, themes of sex and death in painting, ornamentation and architecture, and objects of everyday beauty from the Wiener Werkstätte.