Poster Design for Ver Sacrum First Major Art Exhibition of the Vienna Secession

• Koloman Moser (1868–1918)
• 1897
• Watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, metal paints on tracing paper
• Leopold Museum, Vienna

Koloman Moser was a prominent graphic artist in Vienna’s art scene. He designed this poster for the First Exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1898, but it was not used at the time. Moser’s early works often feature decorative floral-linear style. This poster also uses abstracted natural forms into which letters and figures are embedded. The words “Ver Sacrum” (Latin for “holy spring”) at the top of the poster symbolize the ideals of the newly-created Vienna Secession, and were also taken as the title for the group’s official magazine, first published in 1898.