There are two paintings of artist's studios that say it all. The first is part castle, part Old Curiosity Shop, packed with statues, bearskins and whatnot, where a successful Viennese artist of the old school sits in gloomy splendor. The second is filled with light. There is no artist, but a woman's silky dress drapes over a white wooden chair. Just two decades separate them, but between 1880 and 1900 Vienna's artists swept away the cobwebs and shook the world.

Gustav Klimt's "Pallas Athene" (1898)

"Vienna, Life and Art," at Fuchu Art Museum in western Tokyo, reflects the vibrant city of Klimt, Freud and Mahler from 1873 to 1938, through oil paintings, silverware, furnishings and graphic arts, mainly from Vienna's Museum of History.

The exhibition opens with an impressive panorama of the Vienna World Fair, held during six months in 1873. The site, with its grand central rotunda and orderly pavilions, is symbolic of the era, and of the optimism for international trade and the development of science and the arts.

The same forces were driving Japan, and its pavilion at the fair included ukiyo-e, Imari porcelain and even a replica of the Great Buddha of Kamakura. Similar artworks had already captivated Paris, and now Austrian artists such as Gustav Klimt fell under the Oriental spell.

Here, for example, is Klimt's extraordinary oil painting of Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess, from 1898. Just compare it to the gentle allegories of "Liebe (Love)" or "Die Kunst (Art)," painted by different artists in the same year. Neither of those, despite featuring nudes, would have scandalized the worthies of Vienna. But Klimt's disturbing, sensual images were denounced as pornographic, and in 1897 he broke away to lead Vienna's influential avant-garde group the Secessionists.

Dance book by Joseph Hoffman (1909)

In the paintings of Secessionist Carl Moll, for example, there are bold compositions, such as the interior of a coffee factory. His domestic scenes also reflect the ideal contemporary interior: light, airy, with restrained decoration.

The Secessionists embraced fine and applied arts, since, in common with the earlier English Arts and Crafts movement, there was a passionate belief in the art of living.

If you enjoyed last year's Charles Rennie Mackintosh/Glasgow School exhibition you will love the powerful posters for the Secessionist exhibitions. Here are the flowing females of Art Nouveau, given a new twist with vivid patterns, geometric shapes and wonderfully inventive text. This is perhaps the first time the posters have been exhibited together, and the effect is energetic.

It continues in the lively postcards, produced by artists of the Wiener Werkstatten, which practically dance off the walls. Although they are just greeting cards, they are packed with creativity and demonstrate the explosion of interest in graphic arts. Some are by Oskar Kokoschka, now remembered for his vibrant oil paintings produced during a long and eventful life.

In contrast, the works in silver by Joseph Hoffman are hymns to restraint. These lovely boxes, goblets and bowls, set with drops of onyx or amber, have a hint of Celtic poetry, yet are timeless and must have been a great pleasure to use. Perhaps a young woman clasped that elegant dance book at her first ball, almost a century ago.

Asai Chu, one of Japan's leading Western-style artists, lived in Paris for a while and on a visit to Vienna picked up ideas for his Kyoto academy. As well as his beautiful lacquer bowl, with fish and reeds in the Art Nouveau style, the final section shows Japanese wallpaper designs, book covers and various textiles that show a happy blend of Eastern and Western styles.

Unfortunately, Vienna's golden age ended when Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, and many patrons and artists fled for their lives.

Fuchu Museum's Chief Curator Hitoshi Yamamura spoke about the need to bring art to life.

"We weathered a lot of criticism about spending tax payers' money on this new museum, but museums are changing. As well as exhibitions and talks, we have a citizens' gallery and Japan's first artist-in-residence workshops, so people can get involved. We really believe that art can enrich our lives."