In Ferdinand Wolfgang Neess’ life’s work, his Art Nouveau collection and playing music as a flutist played essential roles. Art Nouveau was a revolutionary art movement. With the means of art it gave answers for a utopian, aesthetically determined form of society. In the years around 1900, it also embodied in art the dark side of existence in the form of symbolism with a dark aesthetic of decay, the mythical and the mysterious. The goal was to create a total work of art that would dissolve the boundaries between life and art.

In this sense, the competition also aims to build a bridge between the visual art of Art Nouveau and the music of this era, which was also particularly important to the founder. In keeping with the spirit of the Neess Collection, music and collection are intended to complement and inspire each other, thus opening up entirely new worlds of Art Nouveau to the public.