The origins of the Hagenbund artists’ association in Vienna date back to the informal meetings of artists to discuss contemporary visual arts from 1880 onwards. These gatherings took place initially in various restaurants and then on a more regular basis in the restaurant Zum Blauen Freihaus in Gumpendorfer Strasse, whose owner Josef Haagen gave the association its name. The Künstlerbund Hagen der Genossenschaft Bildender Künstler Wiens was formally established on 3 February 1900. At the outset, it was an association within the Genossenschaft der bildenden Künstler Wiens (“Künstlerhaus”), established in 1861, the professional body representing Viennese artists, sculptors and architects. Just as the Klimt group had left the Künstlerhaus in 1897, the Hagenbund members also withdrew from its protection on 29 November 1900 following various disagreements. As the Künstlerhaus, which had opened in 1868, was no longer available for exhibitions, a new venue in the Markthalle in Zedlitzgasse was established. The restructuring of this hall was organized by the architect Josef Urban, founder member of the Hagenbund, who also worked as a theatre set designer, but already emigrated to the USA in 1911. The exhibitions in Zedlitzhalle reflected the ambitious aims of the Hagenbund and were devoted to the entire spectrum of visual arts, including applied and commercial art.

Guests from Austria and other countries were regular contributors to the exhibitions. Oskar Kokoschka’s expressive oil paintings were shown as early as 1911, creating something of a sensation in the city, but also giving rise to angry protests. The short-lived Neukunst group headed by Egon Schiele, who had left the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 1912, was invited to hold an exhibition that included works by Schiele, Gütersloh, Kolig, Wiegele and others. The Hagenbund was thus always open to and interested in foreign art and new artists, an interest that became more intense in the interwar years. Disapproving bodies forced the closure of the Zedlitzhalle from autumn 1912 and during the First World War, and the premises, in urgent need of renovation, could not be used again until 1919. Whereas traditional art had been the focus hitherto, after the war a younger generation of artists – names like Floch, Hauser, Lerch, Mayer- Marton, Merkel, Schatz or Schwarz-Waldegg – began to set new standards. The modern styles of Expressionism and New Objectivity became increasingly prominent, giving rise to a distinctive Hagenbund style.

From 1924 onwards, women were also permitted to join the association as extraordinary members. They were not allowed to vote but could participate in the discussions and exhibitions. The world economic crisis had a considerable impact on the Hagenbund and its members, especially after 1929, since it made the sale of works of art increasingly difficult. With the changing political circumstances in the 1930s, the characteristically tolerant and pacifist attitudes of the Hagenbund became less and less desirable. Jewish members were expelled in February 1938 by president Karl Stemolak, apparently at the instigation of Leopold Blauensteiner, responsible for visual arts in the Nazi Party Landeskulturamt (Provincial Department of Culture) (1). The Hagenbund was ultimately dissolved after the “Anschluss” for both organizational and economic reasons, the new legislation calling for its structure and assets to be transferred to a (Nazi) “society of fine artists” (2). Some members were able to continue working under difficult circumstances abroad; others were unable to escape and, like Fritz Schwarz-Waldegg or Robert Kohl, were killed in concentration camps. The attempt to revive the Hagenbund after the war was short-lived and unsuccessful.

From today’s perspective, the Hagenbund may be seen above all as a powerful interwar art movement, occupying a distinctive and progressive place next to the Secession and Künstlerhaus groups and notable for its cosmopolitan, heterogeneous and innovative character. Many of its members were persecuted, driven out or murdered in concentration camps during the Nazi era on account of their “non-Aryan” origins and/or their antifascist opinions. The association’s archive was also completely destroyed. As the Hagenbund was extensively ignored for a long time in the Austrian art and cultural scene, there was an evident gap between the known and often high-quality works of art and the absence of biographical data about their creators, which was asking to be closed. Hagenbund art is now increasingly recognized, but there are still undiscovered treasures that make intensive research more worthwhile than ever.

Further information can be found under the Wikipedia entry for HAGENBUND
A list of members is provided here.
Bernhard Denscher published an analysis of the exhibition posters as a visual self-portrayal of the artists' association.

(1) Lisa Frank: Meine Erinnerungen an den Hagenbund (New York 1993). In: Die verlorene Moderne – Der Künstlerbund Hagen 1900 – 1938. Österreichische Galerie im Schloß Halbturn, Burgenland, Vienna 1993.

(2) Ernst Ploil. “Das Ende des Hagenbundes” in Peter Chrastek, Hagenbund and Its Artists: Expressionism, New Objectivity and Prohibition, eds. Wien Museum and Verein der Freunde und der wissenschaftlichen Erforschung des Hagenbundes, exh. cat. Wien Museum, Vienna 2016, in German and English.