Leda with Swan. Postcard of the Wiener Werkstätte, No. 107, 1907

Rudolf Kalvach (1883–1932), who from 1900 to 1912 attended the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts together with Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980), achieved his artistic breakthrough in 1906: Following his participation in the group exhibition Die Jungen held at Galerie Miethke, Kalvach was able to sell three paintings and six woodcuts, and was subsequently commissioned by the Wiener Werkstätte to create designs for pictorial broadsheets and postcards. The motifs chosen by the artist alternate between bizarre animals and surreal-looking human figures. Using luminous primary colors against often dark backgrounds, Kalvach created a grotesque reality dripping with satire. With these works, the artist broke away from the prevalent Viennese Jugendstil, and pioneered an Expressionist manner of depiction. The 21 postcards designed by Kalvach could be bought at the Wiener Werkstätte’s salesroom situated on Graben, and made the artist known to a wider audience.

AS, 2021