In Vienna the world's largest retrospective devoted to Josef Hoffmann, architect and designer

The MAK - Museum of Applied Arts Vienna presents until June 19, 2022 the world’s largest exhibition dedicated to Josef Hoffmann (Brtnice, 1870 - Vienna, 1956), among the most important Austrian architects and pioneers of 20th-century design, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his birth (it was in fact already scheduled for December 2020). Josef Hoffmann. Progress through Beauty, this is the title of the retrospective, aims to celebrate the work of the architect, designer and co-founder of the Wiener Werkstätte, and to present every aspect of his activity.

Curated by Matthias Boeckl, Rainald Franz, and Christian Witt-Dörring, the exhibition also aims to emphasize how his work as an architect and designer has been underestimated and even geographically limited in its sphere of influence; the curators set out to update his catalog raisonné and expand studies on Hoffmann, as sources are incomplete and little known. Josef Hoffmann is considered one of the leading figures of Viennese modernism: he played a key role in the artistic and architectural scene both in Austria and abroad, especially for his concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art, and for his buildings such as Palais Stoclet in Brussels, built between 1905 and 1911 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2009.

The retrospective covers every aspect of his everyday life and every period of his life, from his youth and studies at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts until his death in 1956. In particular, the curators wanted to focus on the influence his art had on architecture, decorative arts, and design, starting with his major projects: the Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904/05), the Stoclet Palace in Brussels (1905-1911), the Kunstschau in Vienna (1908), the Austrian Pavilion for the Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne (1914), the Pavilion for the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris (1925), the Werkbundsiedlung in Vienna (1931), and the Pavilion for the 1934 Venice Biennale.

A reconstruction of the Boudoir d’une grande vedette (1937) that Hoffmann made for the Paris World’s Fair makes it possible for the public to immerse themselves in this space. Shown for the first time are furnishings for Sonja Knips’ villa (1924) and for the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris, as well as Josef Hoffmann’s never-before-exhibited drawings from the J. & L. Lobmeyr, J. Backhausen & Söhne, and Augarten Vienna Porcelain Manufactory archives.

Through this exhibition and its accompanying catalog, it aims to affirm Hoffmann’s role in a different light; the MAK holds the world’s most comprehensive collection of Hoffmann’s furniture, objects, and designs.

The exhibition is in collaboration with the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

For more info: www.mak.at/en
www.austria.info/it/arte/artisti-e-capolavori/josef-hoffmann

Hours: Tuesday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Image: Set-up for the exhibition Josef Hoffmann. Progress through Beauty at MAK Vienna © MAK/Georg Mayer

In Vienna the world's largest retrospective devoted to Josef Hoffmann, architect and designer

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