Vienna in Middlesbrough

1st July 2009

Categories: Things to do

Wiener Werkstätte: Design in Vienna 1903-1932 is a unique exhibition which brings together over 150 objects related to the Wiener Werkstätte or 'Vienna Workshop' - the largest show in Britain in recent years. The show encompasses jewellery, ceramics, glass, metalwork, functional items, textiles, wallpaper , prints and enamel-ware to provide the
viewer with a fantastic overview of the output of this iconic modernist 'design factory'.

Vienna at the turn of the 20th century was at the centre of Europe's cultural activity. In 1893 Otto Wagner had laid out plans for the modernisation of the city, and four years later with Gustav Klimt as its president, the Vienna Secession was founded, the declaration by a group of modernists to leave behind the art establishment.

The following year the journal Ver Sacrum (Sacred Spring) was published and Josef Olbrich's Secession building was opened. This housed the 1900 exhibition of work by British designers C.R. Mackintosh and C.R. Ashbee and so the foundations were laid for the forming, in 1903, of the Wiener Werkstätte by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, both founder members of the Secession, and the wealthy patron Fritz Waerndorfer, as a Viennese counterpart to the British Arts and Crafts movement. It was an immediate success receiving, a year later, the commission to build the Purkersdorf Sanatorium and Palais Stoclet.

By 1913 they had opened workshops in all aspects of design, employing women artists such as Vally Wieselthier, Susi Singer and Kitty Rix in many disciplines, including fashion design, ceramics and enamelling. They also
commissioned outside companies, one of which was the Wiener Keramik founded by Michael Powolny and Berthold Loffler. By the closure in 1932, due mainly to the deaths of Klimt, Moser and Dagobert Peche, the Wiener Werkstätte had proven itself to be one of the most important influences on 20th Century Art, Architecture and Design.

The exhibition draws primarily on the collection of David Bonsall.

Useful Information

Wiener Werkstatte - Design in Vienna 1903-1932 at the Dorman Museum, 1 July to 4 October 2009, Tuesday to Sunday 9:30 to 17:00.

Useful Links

Dorman Museum

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