The notion, which is still most popular in Austria and Germany, was developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries by a variety of European art groups and became a basic principle of modern art.Although it went out of popularity during the postmodern era, the phrase is still used to characterize multimedia installations and pieces today.
Gesamtkunstwerk’s concepts may be traced back to the Baroque period. Architecture, interior decorating, landscape design, sculpting, and art were all integrated to create a grandiose impact that was mirrored in every detail.
The Romanticism movement of the early 19th century affected the creation of Gesamtkunstwerk, most notably through the artist and thinker Philipp Otto Runge.
Richard Wagner’s Gesamtkunstwerk was promoted by intellectually adopting the word and embodying it in his famed operas, to the point that it was commonly credited to him.
Victor Horta’s Hôtel Tassel (1893), a private property created for the Tassel family, was one of the first instances of Art Nouveau. The style was popularized the same year by Paul Hankar’s Hankar House (1893).
Jugendstil, or “Art Nouveau” in German, began in 1896 in Munich. The emphasis on beautiful lines featured a new concept of style that united all the arts into a Gesamtkunstwerk.
The Vienna Secession, in contrast to the conventional and academic order of the arts, promoted an international “total art” that combined the decorative arts with sculpture, painting, and architecture.
Walter Gropius supported the notion of Gesamtkunstwerk while leading the Bauhaus, a school that stressed rigorous instruction in the trades as well as the fine arts.