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Apollo
Art Diary

Josef Hoffmann: Progress Through Beauty

10 December 2021

With more than 800 objects, this show at the MAK (Museum of Applied Arts) in Vienna (14 December–19 June 2022) is the largest survey of the architect and designer Josef Hoffmann’s work to date. Hoping to offer a fuller picture of his wide-ranging oeuvre it retraces his years with the Vienna Secession, the Wiener Werkstätte and the Werkbund (all of which he co-founded). Hoffmann was a pioneer of the ideal of the gesamtkunstwerk, and the exhibition assesses his lasting influence on 20th-century design. Highlights include a reconstruction of the Boudoir d’une grande vedette (1937), made originally for the Paris World’s Fair, and never-before-seen designs from various company archives. Find out more from the MAK’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

Silver flatware for Fritz and Lili Waerndorfer (1094-1908), Josef Hoffmann.

Silver flatware for Fritz and Lili Waerndorfer (1904–08), Josef Hoffmann. © Aslan Kudrnofsky/MAK

Belt buckle for the Wiener Werkstätte (1905), Josef Hoffmann.

Belt buckle for the Wiener Werkstätte (1905), Josef Hoffmann. © MAK/Georg Mayer

Wiener Werkstätte postcard No. 75, Bar Room (1907), Josef Hoffmann.

Wiener Werkstätte postcard No. 75, Bar Room (1907), Josef Hoffmann. © MAK

Fauteuil chair Cabaret Fledermaus (1907), Josef Hoffmann.

Fauteuil chair Cabaret Fledermaus (1907), Josef Hoffmann. © MAK/Georg Mayer