Fashion Figurine. From the Portfolio “Vienna Fashion 1914/5”, Page II [Selection from Two Portfolios], 1914

In 1911, the Wiener Werkstätte established its own fashion department. The impetus behind this was the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, which was supposed to encompass all areas of life. Aside from other artists, artisan, graphic designer and painter Friederike Löw (1891–1975) also contributed a number of designs for the art-print portfolio collection Vienna Fashion 1914/15, comprised of a total of 12 portfolios. The first one, from which this print is taken, had a print run of 100, while of all the others only 50 copies were printed. These small numbers illustrate that these portfolios were made less for collectors than for interested customers as presentation images in the sales outlets and studios of the Wiener Werkstätte.

MR, 2023