Wiener Werkstatte

The Wiener Werkstätte was founded in 1903 by Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, and Fritz Waerndorfer. It was a progressive alliance of artists and designers who challenged industrialized society with individual handcraftsmanship and brought different facets of life into one unified, elegant artwork. The workshop expanded to fill a three-story building and experimented with various materials and applied their simple, often geometric designs across ceramics, textiles, typography, interior design, furniture, and fashion. It lasted only 30 years but enjoyed major commercial success and garnered designs from many leading artists of the epoch. Today, it is recognized for its comprehensive approach to artistic practice and its stylistic influence on Art Deco and Bauhaus.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 01 June 2022
Publisher: Taschen GmbH

The Wiener Werkstätte, also known as the Vienna Workshop, was a groundbreaking creative movement founded in 1903 by Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, and Fritz Waerndorfer. This progressive alliance of artists and designers aimed to challenge the industrialized society of their time by emphasizing the value of individual handcraftsmanship and creating unified, elegant artworks that encompassed various aspects of life.

The workshop started in three small rooms but quickly grew to occupy a three-story building, housing specialized departments for metalwork, leatherwork, woodwork, a book binder, and a paint shop. Artists at the Wiener Werkstätte experimented with a wide range of materials, including gold, precious stones, and papier mâché, and applied their simple, often geometric designs across a diverse range of mediums, including ceramics, textiles, typography, interior design, furniture, and fashion.

In architectural commissions such as the Purkersdorf Sanatorium and the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, the Wiener Werkstätte was able to fully realize its vision of the Gesamtkunstwerk, where every detail of an environment was designed as an integral part of a cohesive whole. This comprehensive approach to artistic practice set the workshop apart and had a significant influence on subsequent movements like Art Deco and Bauhaus.

Despite its relatively short lifespan of only 30 years, the Wiener Werkstätte achieved remarkable commercial success, with outlets in cities such as Karlsbad, Marienbad, Zurich, New York, and Berlin. The workshop also attracted the attention of many renowned artists of the era, including Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele. Today, the Wiener Werkstätte is celebrated for its holistic approach to artistic practice and its enduring stylistic influence on the world of design.

Weight: 1764g
Dimension: 253 x 325 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783836519885