Barbara Sternthal Livres

His painting „The Kiss“ is the very icon of the Fin de Siècle era in Vienna, reproductions of his pictures are best sellers in museums the world over and his portraits of the ladies of the haute juiverie of Vienna continue to hit the daily headlines as objects of stolen art. Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) is beyond any doubt the most famous artist Austria has produced, a legend and a one-off whose life story is intertwined with countless rumours. Yet what do we know of this sensitive painter of women and supremely gifted draughtsman? Was he really the father of fourteen illegitimate children? Was he attracted to his beautiful and erotic female artists as a man as well as an artist? Was his relationship with the self-confident and elegant Emilie Flöge platonic or not? And is his syphilis mere film script invention? „I am not exceptionally interesting as a person“ is one of the very few authentic sentences known to have been uttered by Klimt. We beg to differ and set off on the trail of an artist and a man who left a virtually unrivalled mark on Viennese Jugendstil.

Dieses Buch bringt dem Leser Leben und Werk Sigmund Freuds in einfacher, übersichtlicher Weise näher und bettet seine Biographie in den speziellen sozio-kulturellen Kontext der Metropole Wien. Freuds ambivaltentes Verhältnis zu dieser Stadt, die ihn gleichzeitig prägte und einschränkte, und seine jüdische Identität sind Leitmotive in diesem Buch, das durch seine Fülle an bislang nicht veröffentlichtem Bild- und Textmaterial besticht.

THEY ARE THE oldest cultured horse breed in Europe. Their ancestry can be traced back to the 16th century, and their name comes from a small village in modern-day Slovenia: the Lipizzaners, whose first home was Lipica and are now bred in Piber, near the Styrian city of Graz, owe their grace and learning ability to the over 400-year-old, carefully cultivated and constantly refined knowledge of proper breeding and training. Each year the finest Lipizzaner stallions are selected for the Spanish Riding School, the world-renowned institution where the classic art of horsemanship of the “haute école” has been practised for some 450 years. With their extraordinary performances in the famous Winter Riding School in Vienna’s Hofburg palace, these noble horses enthral visitors from all over the globe. This compact and beautifully illustrated book traces the history of the Lipizzaner breed, provides insights into their training, and describes the turmoil the “white stallions” faced during and after the Second World War as well as the outstanding position they occupy in today’s equestrian circles.

Hardly any other name epitomises life in Vienna at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century like his: Gustav Klimt, a gifted drawer and sensitive painter of women’s portraits. But beyond that, Klimt’s exceptional artwork is iconic of the shift to modernism. The dazzling period of the “merry apocalypse” in Vienna around 1900 was his epoch – the era in which the old was buried and the new was born.

The impressive palaces of Vienna and the extensive Hofburg complex bear witness to a glorious history whilst forming an elemental architectural part of a city which still pulsates with life. Many of these buildings have a tale to tell from the period of the Habsburgs. How Emperor Charles VI dreamed of his hunting lodge, how Maria Theresa finally commissioned Nicolò Pacassi to expand „her“ Schönbrunn, how Emperor Franz Joseph ruled over an enormous empire from his chambers at the Hofburg and how the mysterious Empress Sisi sought to design her own apartments so as to make her periods of residence in Vienna as bearable as possible. Other stories related include that of the proud Prince Eugene and his construction of Belvedere Palace offering spectacular views over the historic centre of Vienna and the history of a time when the demolition of the old city walls completely changed the face of the city, giving way to the Vienna Ringstrasse and ushering in the famous period of promoterism which brought us such splendours as the Court Opera House, the Imperial Court Theatre and the blossoming paradises of the Burggarten and Volksgarten. This book takes us on a journey through Vienna and provides a glimpse behind the historic facades of one of the world's most beautiful cities.

The Lipizzans and the Spanish Riding School are part of Austria's most important cultural heritage, whose history extends back to the 16th century. But this is not the only subject in this informative and richly illustrated book. An account is also given on the lively present, the Piber Lipizzan stud farm, the everyday life of the world famous white stallions and their grandiose appearances in the most beautiful riding arena in the world.