Koloman Moser, smoking, 1912

Koloman Moser was born in 1868 in Vienna and is considered one of the most important Austrian painters, graphic artists and artisan craftsmen of Classical Modernism. Moser received his artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts and the School of Arts and Crafts in Vienna, and would teach at the latter institution from 1899 to 1918. In 1897 he, Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) and numerous other artists founded the Vienna Secession. Together with Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) and the industrialist Fritz Waerndorfer (1868–1939), Moser established the Wiener Werkstätte in 1903, and exerted a decisive influence on the company’s style until he resigned from it in 1907. Following his resignation, Moser worked primarily as a painter, focusing on landscapes and Symbolist compositions as his preferred themes. In his later paintings, especially, Moser developed a bold coloring which is testament to his in-depth exploration of avant-garde color and perception theories. Koloman Moser passed away on 18th October 1918 in Vienna.

MTh, 2021