Master Art

Designed by: Emma Schlangenhausen, Hilde von Exner, 1904

Executed by: Kunstgewerbeschule Vienna/School of Prof. Koloman Moser

Wrought iron frame, copper, chased and chiselled, silver plated, gilt, patinated in different colours; young woman: opalescent glass cabochons (1 missing), enamelled cabochons, cleaned and restored by academic metal restorer, small retouches on silver plating, gilding and patina, very beautiful original patina,  excellent original condition.

155 x 69 cm

At the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, Austria was represented with its own
pavilion, in which Josef Hoffmann designed a separate room where the Vienna
School of Arts and Crafts presented itself. The black and white design of the
exhibition was accentuated by showcases and image panels executed in various
materials and techniques that were embedded in the wood panelling. This extraordinary design sought to demonstrate the creative power and the wide
range of techniques mastered by the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts. Alongside
textile pictures, some of which are now in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna, two metal mosaic panels, "designed and executed in the department of Prof. Kolo Moser", stood out. One of these extraordinary pieces is shown in the upper right section of the room view picture right above the display case. This picture was part of the exhibition review published at the time by the Munich magazine "Die Kunst". 

In the current exhibition: Josef Hoffmann 1870-1956. Progress through Beauty, December 2021 to June 2022 at the MAK Vienna, there is also documentation on: Josef Hoffmann, Room of the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, St. Louis 1904, in which part of our panel "Young Woman" is shown, although the rendering is quite distorted. 

Sincere thanks to Dr. Gerd Pichler for his expertise.