The years leading up to 1914 and the start of World War I were an era of endless pleasures for aristocratic families in Europe. Since 1815 and the defeat of Napoleon, the political concert of Europe consisting of the great powers of that era, namely the Russian Empire; The empire of Hungarian decoration, which included the Balkans; The British Empire and the French Republic brought one hundred years of peace to Europe. There was no large-scale, all-continental war. Most of the military encounters were small scale and manageable.

  The structure of aristocratic families suffered from such euphoria and moral decadence that they allowed any kind of relationship. Unbridled sexual relations outside the legitimate framework; masturbation Making love with animals Bestiality; And even the expression of unconventional love and interest in Objectophilia objects had become fashionable. Years later, a writer compared the situation of the Europeans in the years before 1914 to the passengers of the Titanic who were happy inside the ship, but they did not know that they were approaching the destructive iceberg of the First World War, which would be the end of all these joys. In other words, the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912 was a warning about the sinking of decadent Europe in the vortex of World War I in the summer of 1918.

Franz von Bayros Franz von Bayros was born on May 28, 1866 in Zagreb, Croatia. At that time, the Balkans were part of the Hungarian empire; Vienna was the center of music and countless joys in the world. He is considered one of the main representatives of the decadent art movement. An art that depicts the concerns of the aristocracy, who have nothing else to do with sensual pleasures in their worst form.

At the age of seventeen, he was admitted to the entrance exam of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Byros was a close friend of Johann Strauss and married his adopted daughter, Alice, in 1896. The following year, Byros went to Munich.

He held his first exhibition in Munich in 1904, which was well received. From 1904 to 1908, he traveled to Paris and Italy to continue his studies. In 1911, he created his most famous and controversial work, Tales from the Dressing Table, for which he was later arrested and exiled from Germany. Returning to Vienna, he felt like an outsider, and the outbreak of World War I increased his sense of alienation. His work can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He painted a total of more than 2000 paintings.

The artist died on April 3, 1924 in Vienna due to cerebral hemorrhage. This year coincides with the 100th anniversary of his death.

Despite the many attacks and criticisms that have been made on his paintings, his works are currently considered undeniable documents of the period of unrestrained happiness before the war and the violent revolutions of the early 20th century in Europe.

 

View Full-screen Gallery