Wiener Werkstätte

Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshops), association of artists founded in 1903 by Josef Hoffmann and Kolo Moser as "Wiener Werkstätte GmbH" on the model of the Arts and Crafts Movement in England and Scotland. It tried to achieve a renewal of art on the basis of quality craft products in connection with the Wiener Kunstgewerbeschule and the Vienna Secession. It made Vienna the centre of a new culture of taste, especially in the field of Industrial Arts. The studio, which was used as a school and production facility, was financed by F. Waerndorfer until 1914, later by O. and M. Primavesi. It had to close down for financial reasons in 1932. The great success enjoyed at times by its art products led to the opening of several shops in Vienna and to the foundation of branches abroad (Karlsbad 1909, Marienbad and Zurich 1916/17, New York 1922, Berlin 1929). The product line of the Wiener Werkstätte comprised all areas of home décor and lifestyle, from architecture to small utensils, and was influenced by the elevated art of decoration of the late Classicistic Biedermeier period. It managed to overcome the luxuriant Jugendstil ornamentation and concentrate on simple geometrical-abstract shapes, which decisively influenced 20^th century Industrial Art. The Palais Stoclet in Brussels was built 1905-1911 according to drafts by J. Hoffmann; the entire project was carried out by the Wiener Werkstätte and remained one of the few Gesamtkunstwerks of the first half of the 20^th century. Exhibitions were held annually from 1908 and experimental summer theatre performances were staged, which caused a sensation. Many of the most famous art personalities of the turn of the century designed and produced for the Wiener Werkstätte, including G. Klimt, O. Kokoschka, E. Schiele, C. Moll, D. Peche, E. J. Wimmer-Wisgrill, F. Zülow, C. O. Czeschka, O. Prutscher, C. Witzmann, L. Forstner, O. Haerdtl, L. H. Jungnickel, R. Luksch, O. Strnad und R. Teschner.

Literature: Die Wiener Werkstätte. Modernes Kunsthandwerk von 1903-1932, exhibition catalogue, Vienna 1967; W. Neuwirth, Wiener Werkstätte Keramik, 1981; T. Hansen, Die Postkarten der Wiener Werkstätte, 1982; W. J. Schweiger, Die Wiener Werkstätte Kunst und Handwerk 1903-1932, 1982; W. Neuwirth, Wiener Werkstätte Avantgarde, Art Deco, Industrial Design, 1984; T. Hansen, Wiener Werkstätte Mode, Schmuck, Accessoires, 1984; A. Völker, Wiener Mode und Modefotografie. Die Modeabteilung der Wiener Werkstätte 1911-1932, 1984; G. Fahr-Becker, Wiener Werkstätte 1903-1932, 1994.