Composition in Gray, Violet, Red and Green, c. 1906–07

Emil Pirchan (1884–1957) studied architecture from 1903 to 1906 in the class of Otto Wagner (1841–1918) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He subsequently sought to establish himself in the fields of architecture and design while also experimenting with various painting and graphic techniques, including the technique of marbled paper, to which Composition in Gray, Violet, Red, and Green belongs. In several interiors he designed between 1906 and 1910, Pirchan used his striking marbled paper as wall decoration, proudly emphasizing that he had produced it using a process of his own invention. It can at least be assumed that he created these works by pressing dyed flowers of different kinds and sizes onto the surface of the paper. Pirchan shared his fundamental interest in dipping and marbling techniques with a number of his contemporaries, including the “jack-of-all-trades” Koloman Moser (1868–1918), who produced marbled sheets, among other things for Book Cover: Geschichten aus den Winkelgassen; Leopold Stolba (1863–1929), used the repulsion between fat and water to create a number of amusing animal depictions for e.g. Composition with Four Fish.