Armchair for Purkersdorf Sanatorium, 1903

Koloman Moser (1868–1918) designed this item of furniture in 1903, which was executed by the renowned wickerwork factory Prag-Rudniker. It was first used as a decorative element in the first Klimt exhibition held at the Vienna Secession in early 1903. The armchair subsequently became part of the furniture for the entrance hall of Purkersdorf Sanatorium. The industrialist Viktor Zuckerkandl (1851–1927) commissioned the architect Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) to design this new building on the outskirts of Vienna in 1904. The cubic forms, straight lines and use of white-blue checkerboard decor that characterize the building are also reflected in Koloman Moser’s armchair with its cube shape and design composed of straight planes. Additionally, the chair’s black-and-white varnished basketwork mirrored the pattern of the sanatorium’s floor.

Text Leopold Museum