Sacred Spring: God and the Birth of Modernism in Fin De Siecle Vienna

Taking a very different tack, Robert Weldon Whalen in "Sacred Spring" posits the striking thesis that Viennese modernism, far from being secular, was in fact a deeply religious movement. In vivid language, Whalen examines this era of "being torn apart and rising again," casting a penetrating gaze on those Viennese who were on the cutting edge of modern thought. Though the book focuses on "avant-garde" art, it connects materials from journalism, popular culture, and contemporary politics in often unusual ways. Students of modernism, the arts, and European cultural history will find "Sacred Spring" to offer an intriguing take on their subjects, and the book will also appeal to all readers fascinated by the intersection of culture and faith, by the communion between the arts and the sacred.