Trial Proof Loneliness, 1902

The 14th Exhibition of the Union of Austrian Artists, for which Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) designed the famous “Beethoven Frieze”, was held in 1902. The exhibition was organized by Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) and featured a total of 21 participating artists, among them Koloman Moser (1868–1918). Moser’s exhibits included a mosaic, two works executed as mortar reliefs as well as two leaded-glass window panes. The present woodcut by Moser was reproduced in the catalogue for the exhibition, but as a black-and-white print. Both the reproduction in the catalogue and the trial proof reveal the edgy and splintered character of the woodcut; this clearly marks a departure from the flowing lines of the artist’s earlier works. Similar woodcuts were published in Ver Sacrum in the same year, for instance November – Trial Proof for Ver Sacrum.

LVD, 2024