Fin de siècle is a French phrase that translates to "end of the century." In Arts writing, it is used to describe some works created at the end of the 19th-century (and no other).
In order to qualify as a piece worthy of the "fin de siècle" label, the work must contain (or, at least, have someone write that it contains) an aura of boredom, or even a faint dread that stops short of "impending doom." This must also be mixed with an evident knowledge -- on the creator's part -- of those social graces (particularly in the areas of dress, speech, affected mannerisms and interior decoration) that "everyone" followed in chic urban areas.
Wrap this all together in a painting or literary piece from the 1890s, and what have you got? Evidence that the Y2K phenomenon, in which The Worst was upon us, was nothing new.
