Josef Hoffmann

JOSEF HOFFMANN (Brtnice, Czech Republic, 1870 - Vienna, 1956).
Untitled.
Drawing in pen and pencil.
Signed in pencil.
Stamp of the atelier.
Measurements: 26 x 20 cm; 32 x 26 cm (frame).

Architect and industrial designer, Josef Hoffmann studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna, where he was a disciple of Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer and Otto Wagner, whose theories of a functional and modern architecture would profoundly influence his work. He won the Rome Prize in 1895, and the following year joined Wagner's office, collaborating with Olbrich on some projects for the Metropolitan. He established his own office in 1898, and taught at the Vienna School of Decorative Arts from 1899 to 1936. He was also a founding member of the Viennese Secession. In 1900 he traveled to London, where he came into contact with the English school and discovered Mackintosh. On his return he set up a workshop for the production of objects based on designs by artists of the Secession, and thus the Wiener Werkstätte was born, a workshop that exerted a great influence on the industrial design of the twentieth century. By 1903, production began on an international scale. Throughout his life, Hoffmann realized various projects for buildings and furnishings, and exhibited his creations all over the world. He is currently represented in the MAK and the Leopold Museum in Vienna, the Metropolitan and MoMA in New York, the Brohan in Berlin, the Courtauld Institute in London and the Victoria & Albert in London, among many others.