NGV Vienna Art and Design - Klimt Schiele Hoffmann Loos

Architecture

Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956)

Josef Hoffmann was one of Austria's most important architects and designers, and was central to the development of art and design in Vienna. He was its driving force.

Josef Hoffmann was born in Brünn (now Brno in the Czech Republic) where he studied at the State Crafts School before going on to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. There he studied with architect Otto Wagner and won the coveted Prix de Rome in 1895. While working in Wagner's office he met architect Joseph Maria Olbrich and – together with artists Gustav Klimt and Koloman Moser – they established the Vienna Secession.

Hoffmann was extremely versatile and worked closely with artists, designing exhibition spaces and directing the installation of works. He also invited internationally established designers and architects to exhibit in Vienna, including Scotsman Charles Rennie Mackintosh whose work was to become highly influential on the Secessionists, particularly Hoffmann and Moser.

Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop)

Hoffmann's contribution to the development of the arts in Vienna is inestimable. Together with Moser and industrialist Fritz Wärndorfer, he established the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop), a progressive alliance of artists and designers linked to the Vienna Secession. It was formally registered as a company in 1903, with Hoffmann its first artistic director, and operated until 1932.

Influential furniture designs

One of the major designers for the Wiener Werkstätte, Hoffmann produced a significant number of designs, some of which are still in production such as the Rundes Modell cutlery set manufactured by Alessi and the iconic Kubus armchair whose geometric lines and cubic form have become a prototype for modern designer armchairs. His Sitzmaschine is equally famous. Hoffmann's celebrated furniture for the Gallia apartment is now part of the NGV's collection.