Two Viennese panels for Orsay

5/3/26 - Acquisition - Paris, Musée d’Orsay - While the Musée d’Orsay is currently dedicating an exhibition to its collection of Vienna Secession drawings [1], two large decorative metal panels (ill. 1 and 2) created by Emma Schlangenhausen and Hilde van Exner within the context of this legendary circle have joined its rich collection of Viennese decorative arts. Sometimes referred to as Adolescence, the two panels had remained in Austrian private hands before recently resurfacing on the Viennese art market among the many Jugendstil masterpieces of the Bel Etage gallery. They were probably acquired from that gallery, although neither the museum — which nevertheless provided us with a detailed catalogue entry for which we are grateful — nor the gallery responded on this matter. As the…