At the end of the nineteenth century, the Secession art movement shed conservative and commercial art traditions to usher in the beginnings of modernism in Austria and Germany. Taking an international yet individualistic approach to art, the rebellious Secessionists eschewed existing exhibitions and government support to embrace artistic freedom. They staged their own shows throughout Europe's German-speaking regions, which introduced the public to novel art movements like impressionism and symbolism and launched the careers of Franz von Stuck, Gustav Klimt, and Max Liebermann.

Secessions illustrates the artistic diversity within this movement, featuring more than 200 works by some eighty artists from Vienna, Munich, and Berlin, as well as Ferdinand Hodler, Edvard Munch, Auguste Rodin, Giovanni Segantini, and Jan Toorop. This catalog accompanies a 2023 exhibit curated by the Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin in cooperation with the Wien Museum.