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ONLINECOLLECTION

Poster for the opening of Cabaret Fledermaus, 1907

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Color lithograph on paper
55.7×41.3×2.4 cm

Artists

  • Bertold Löffler

    (Nieder-Rosenthal [today: district of Liberec] 1874–1960 Vienna)

  • Lithograph and print Albert Berger, Vienna
  • Wiener Werkstätte
Unfortunately not on display at the moment
The poster announcing the opening of Cabaret Fledermaus in 1907 is considered a pinnacle of Austrian advertising art in the early 20th century. With this work, the painter, graphic artist and designer Bertold Löffler (1874–1960) managed to achieve a maximum of expression despite simplified pictorial forms and colors. The stage aspect of the performance venue, which was intended as a Gesamtkunstwerk, or universal work of art, is alluded to with the silhouettes of three masks. The two male ones symbolize tragedy and comedy, while the third can be interpreted as female. Along with the black background, the basic coloring is limited to yellow, red and green. While the figural pictorial elements enter into a harmonious synthesis with the typographical ones, the artist clearly economized on decor: Only the “S”, rendered as a serpentine line with spiral-shaped ends, and the wavy crossbars of the “F” and “E”s hint at decoration.

Audio

Audio for adults

Object data

Artist/author
  • Design: Bertold Löffler
  • Print: Lithograph and print Albert Berger, Vienna
  • for the: Wiener Werkstätte
Title
Poster for the opening of Cabaret Fledermaus
Date
1907
Art movement
Art Nouveau, Wiener Werkstätte
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Color lithograph on paper
Dimensions
55.7×41.3×2.4 cm
Signature
Monogrammed in the depiction lower right: Lö
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 1671
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Selection of Reference works
  • Wien 1900. Aufbruch in die Moderne, hrsg. von Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Wien 2019 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, ab 15.03.2019).
  • Wien 1900. Sammlung Leopold, hrsg. von Diethard Leopold/Peter Weinhäupl, Wien u.a. 2009.
Keywords

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (o.D.);
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (seit 1994)

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