The Love Potion (Tristan and Isolde)

Koloman Moser was one of the foremost artists of the Vienna Secession movement and a co-founder of the Wiener Werkstätte. He designed various artworks, including books, fashion, stained glass windows, porcelains and ceramics, blown glass, tableware, silver, jewelry, furniture, and graphic works from postage stamps to magazine vignettes. He also painted.

Here, Moser shows us the most dramatic moment of the opera Tristan and Isolde by Richard Wagner—the confrontation of an evocative Isolde, seeking revenge, with a surprised Tristan. The hero has not yet managed to accept the potion, nor could the approaching disaster be averted. The tension between the figures, the oarsmen in the middle who push themselves in the background like a wedge between the two protagonists, and the unrealistic colorfulness are the finesse of this strict, symmetrical composition. 

This fantastic golden painting is featured in our Undated Vienna Secession Planner; I can assure you, in print it is as golden as on the digital image. and would be perfect for the New Year.

P.S. Artists of Vienna Secession loved gold! One of the most famous examples of this trend is Gustav Klimt's exquisite Lady in Gold! But you should also check out Klimt's Beethoven Frieze which he created in the iconic Secession Building in Vienna!