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ONLINECOLLECTION

Chair for the Servant’s Room of Villa Friedmann, 1898/99

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Wood
89.5×45.8×46.2 cm

Artists

  • Joseph Maria Olbrich

    (Opava 1867–1908 Düsseldorf)

Currently on display at OG4
This plain chair was designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich (1867–1908) during his Vienna period. It was verifiably used in an upholstered version in a servant’s room of Villa Friedmann. Having been appointed in 1899 to Hessen by Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig von Hessen und bei Rhein (1868–1937), the architect subsequently contributed to the expansion of the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony. While working simultaneously on the Vienna Secession building, Villa Friedmann and the Bahr residence, he further developed his conviction that furniture should unite both esthetical forms and emotion. In a manuscript dated 7th July 1898, Olbrich expressed his desire to cater to the many needs of his time. He wanted to sound out everything – from individual chairs to entire rooms – in order to combine beauty, decor and functionality. The architect and designer had to veritably train the artisans executing his designs, as they were reluctant to veer off the established paths.

Object data

Artist/author
  • Joseph Maria Olbrich
Title
Chair for the Servant’s Room of Villa Friedmann
Date
1898/99
Category
Furniture
Material​/technique
Wood
Dimensions
89.5×45.8×46.2 cm
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 4623
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).
Keywords

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

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