Nobles, Modernism, and the Culture of fin-de-siècle Munich.

Historians of central Europe agree that the fin de siècle was a time of artistic ferment and change that was critical in the formation of the 'modern', but ignore the influence and role of the nobility, assuming that nobles were insignificant actors in the cultural realm. This article contests that notion by investigating the janus-faced artistic nobility in Munich. The author argues that nobles played an important role in the artistic markers of Munich's fin de siècle (Secession, art nouveau, cabaret); more importantly, many nobles were instrumental in the reception and propagation of ideas that informed the European avant-garde, and acted as a model for a European variant of alternative modernism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]