Josef Hoffmann exhibition at the MAK in Vienna
The MAK – Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna presents until 19 June 2022 the largest exhibition in the world dedicated to Josef Hoffmann, one of the most important architects and designers of the twentieth century.
The MAK – Museum of Applied Arts from Vienna presents until 19 June 2022 the largest exhibition in the world dedicated to Josef Hoffmann (Brtnice, 1870 – Vienna, 1956), among the most important architects Austrians and pioneers of design of the twentieth century, on the occasion of 150th anniversary of his birth (it was in fact already scheduled for December 2020). Josef Hoffmann. Progress through beautythis is the title of the retrospective, intended to celebrate the activity of the architect, designer and co-founder of Wiener Werkstätteand for every aspect of its business.
Curated by Matthias Boeckl, Rainald Franz and Christian Witt-Dörring, the exhibition also intends to underline how his work as architect and designer has been underestimated and even limited geographically on the sphere of influence; the curators have set themselves the goal of updating her catalog and broadening her studies on offmann, as they are incomplete and little known to her. Josef Hoffmann is considered one of the protagonists of the Viennese modernism: played a fundamental role in the artistic and architectural panorama both in Austria and abroad, especially for its concept of Gesamtkunstwerkor rather of total work of artand for its buildings they come Stoclet Palace in Brussels, built between 1905 and 1911 and Unesco Heritage since 2009.
The retrospective covers every aspect of his daily life and every period of his life, from his youth and studies at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts to his death in 1956. In particular, the curators wanted to focus on the influence that his he had art on architecture, decorative arts, design, starting from his main projects: the Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904/05), Palazzo Stoclet in Brussels (1905-1911), the Kunstschau in Vienna (1908), the Pavilion Austrian 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 created for the Parisian Universal Exposition makes it possible for the public to immerse themselves in this space. For the first time, the furnishings for Sonja Knips’ villa (1924) and for the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925 are shown, and Josef Hoffmann’s drawings, never exhibited, from the J. & L. Lobmeyr, J. Backhausen & Söhne, and Augarten Vienna Porcelain Manufactory.
Through this exhibition and its catalog, we want to affirm the role of Hoffmann in a different light; the MAK houses the most complete collection in the world of furniture, objects and design of the latter.
The exhibition is in collaboration with the Vienna University of Applied Arts.
For more information: www.mak.at/en
www.austria.info/it/arte/artisti-e-capolavori/josef-hoffmann
Hours: Tuesday from 10 to 21; Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Closed on Mondays.
Image: Set up for the exhibition Josef Hoffmann. Progress through beauty at the MAK in Vienna © MAK / Georg Mayer
Information on the exhibition
In Vienna the largest retrospective in the world dedicated to Josef Hoffmann, architect and designer |
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