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ONLINECOLLECTION

Poster for the exhibition 1908 Kunstschau, Vienna, 1908

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Color lithograph on paper
36.5×50×2.4 cm

Artists

  • Bertold Löffler

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

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
This poster, executed as a color lithograph, is based on a design by the painter, graphic artist and designer Bertold Löffler (1874–1960). It was created for a ground-breaking event of Viennese Modernism, the exhibition known as the Kunstschau. The exhibition, conceived as a Gesamtkunstwerk, or universal work of art, was held in 1908 in pavilions planned by Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) specifically for this purpose on the grounds occupied today by the Vienna Konzerthaus. Young artists, including Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980) and Rudolf Kalvach (1883–1932), contributed Expressionist-looking posters in vertical formats, such as the Poster for the exhibition 1908 Kunstschau, while Löffler, who was both artists’ teacher at the School of Arts and Crafts, designed a horizontal poster that was still committed to Jugendstil. On two horizontal bands, Löffler provided this information as to what was shown where and when. The actual pictorial space is dominated by a female figure with long, undulating blonde hair rendered in profile. While she is wearing a white-yellow wreath of flowers in her hair, the blue of her eyes matches her blue dress, which is sparsely decorated with four white crosses.

Object data

Artist/author
  • Bertold Löffler
Title
Poster for the exhibition 1908 Kunstschau, Vienna
Date
1908
Art movement
Art Nouveau
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Color lithograph on paper
Dimensions
36.5×50×2.4 cm
Signature
Monogrammed in the depiction on the right: Lö
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 1684
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).
  • Fantastisch! Rudolf Kalvach. Wien und Triest um 1900, hrsg. von Tobias G. Natter/Roberto Festi, Cinisello Balsamo 2012 (Ausst. Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 07.06.2012–10.09.2012).
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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