Secession means withdrawal, isolation, referring to the fact that in 1897, forty-nine artists in Vienna withdrew from the city's art centre to create new art. For a long time it was seen as the confused end of the 19th century or the unclear beginning of the 20th century. Its independent value was only recognised in the 1970s. Among other things, the interpretation that Art Nouveau was the earliest phase of the avant-garde was raised.The Art Nouveau style was given different names in different parts of Europe. While in the Austro-Hungarian Empire the term Secession was used (the name of an exhibition building in Vienna where artists who opposed academism exhibited their work), in France the term art nouveau was used (art nouveau is now used in the UK) and in Britain the term modern style was used (art nouveau is also used in the UK). In Germany, the terms Jugendstil (after the Munich magazine Jugend) and Wellenstil ('wave style') were used, in Spain Modernismo, in Italy stile floreale ('floral style') and stile Liberty, and in the United States Tiffany style. The stylized floral motif is the defining element of Art Nouveau art and decoration.In Hungarian architecture, the first signs of Art Nouveau appeared in the 1890s, and after the turn of the century, the period was considered to have come to an end at the end of the 1910s, with the First World War. The most important Hungarian master of the style is Ödön Lechner. Alongside the Hungarian Art Nouveau developed and cultivated by him and his followers and students, the style had several trends, partly in parallel: on some Hungarian buildings, the influence of French and Belgian Art Nouveau, German Jugendstil, Viennese contemporaries, or even Scandinavian and English architecture of the time can be observed. Lechner's theoretical and practical work was also an important starting point for many of the leading architects of the period, such as Béla Lajta and Károly Kós, one of the founders of the Young Architects' Group.Budapest is also rich in Art Nouveau monuments by European standards. The most important works of Ödön Lechner are located here: the Museum of Applied Arts, the Postal Savings Bank and the headquarters of the Hungarian Geological Institute. The Gresham Palace, the former Parisiana Mulato, the Academy of Music, the Gellért Baths and Hotel, the Gellért Spa and the Gellért Hotel are buildings of the period, all of which are of high quality materials and are a synthesis of the arts. Many monuments of Hungarian Art Nouveau architecture of the period can be found in cities in the Lowlands and Transdanubia, such as Szeged, Veszprém, and in Subotica, Oradea and Târgu Mures, which are now located beyond the Hungarian borders.