Note: I did a number of papers on the Modernist art movement in Europe at the turn of the 20th Century, back in the day when I studied what I wanted (ie, before I realized I needed to make a living). Your prompt spoke to my memories of the art of La Belle Epoque and Fin De Siecle Vienna. And besides, you didn't specify New York, did you? Here goes...
Peter Burke held the rank of oberst in the Imperial Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but he wore no uniform and his subordinates addressed him simply as Herr Burke. Peter didn’t mind – he hated the formal dress with its acres of gold bullion thread and rattling medals and ridiculous epaulettes. He preferred to dress simply; a suit, poorly tailored and years out of style was his style. His beloved wife might have preferred her husband to be a little more fashionable, but that was a small complaint.
Besides, looking like a less-than-prosperous burger suited him. For he was not just a colonel in the Army, Peter Burke was one of the most highly decorated officers in Imperial Secret Police – the Kundschafts Stelle, surpassed only by his commanding officer, Alfred Redl. Peter never trusted the man – he liked the finer things too much.
But he kept his thoughts about Redl to himself, because even though he was a ranking officer in the Secret Police, there were still people watching him. Someone was always watching.
And besides, it wasn’t like he didn’t have better things to do that worry about a fellow officer. Not when he had the most intriguing case of his career. There was an artist – an Irishman – who would prove to be his entrée into the radical Modernist movement, The man wasn’t member of The Secession, but he had links to the radical artists who had so dramatically rejected the accepted Classical forms.
His name was Neal Caffrey, he was a forger and a thief. He was also too beautiful for words and made Peter’s blood sing in that forbidden way (and if he and Redl had anything in common, it was this).
He was going to catch Neal Caffrey – play him hard and make him hurt – and in the end, Caffrey would help him shut down these threats to the safety and the security of the Empire.
Colonel Redl was a real person - a traitor in the pay of the Russian empire, and was in large part responsible for the build up of tensions between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian empire just before WWI. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand may have been the trigger for war, but Redl was the one who loaded the gun.
White Collar - Fin de Siecle Vienna Style
Peter Burke held the rank of oberst in the Imperial Army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but he wore no uniform and his subordinates addressed him simply as Herr Burke. Peter didn’t mind – he hated the formal dress with its acres of gold bullion thread and rattling medals and ridiculous epaulettes. He preferred to dress simply; a suit, poorly tailored and years out of style was his style. His beloved wife might have preferred her husband to be a little more fashionable, but that was a small complaint.
Besides, looking like a less-than-prosperous burger suited him. For he was not just a colonel in the Army, Peter Burke was one of the most highly decorated officers in Imperial Secret Police – the Kundschafts Stelle, surpassed only by his commanding officer, Alfred Redl. Peter never trusted the man – he liked the finer things too much.
But he kept his thoughts about Redl to himself, because even though he was a ranking officer in the Secret Police, there were still people watching him. Someone was always watching.
And besides, it wasn’t like he didn’t have better things to do that worry about a fellow officer. Not when he had the most intriguing case of his career. There was an artist – an Irishman – who would prove to be his entrée into the radical Modernist movement, The man wasn’t member of The Secession, but he had links to the radical artists who had so dramatically rejected the accepted Classical forms.
His name was Neal Caffrey, he was a forger and a thief. He was also too beautiful for words and made Peter’s blood sing in that forbidden way (and if he and Redl had anything in common, it was this).
He was going to catch Neal Caffrey – play him hard and make him hurt – and in the end, Caffrey would help him shut down these threats to the safety and the security of the Empire.
Colonel Redl was a real person - a traitor in the pay of the Russian empire, and was in large part responsible for the build up of tensions between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian empire just before WWI. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand may have been the trigger for war, but Redl was the one who loaded the gun.