JOSEF HOFFMANN (Brtnice, Czech Republic, 1870 - Vienna, 1956).

JOSEF HOFFMANN (Brtnice, Czech Republic, 1870 - Vienna, 1956). Jugendstil side cabinet, ca. 1900. Mahogany wood. Measurements: 113 x 31 x 26 cm. An auxiliary piece of furniture in the Jugendstil style, Central European modernism, made of mahogany wood and characterised by the clean lines and the play of geometric volumes typical of Jugendstil, which is combined with a vertical structure, based on closed and open spaces, which is common to the whole of Europe at this time. The base appears open, raised on two stipe legs with horizontal carved grooves, with a closed moulded base, like a plinth, and a shelf at mid-height. The central area is occupied by a closed cupboard with a translucent dark glass door, moulded with an irregular organic-looking irregular finish. Finally, above the cupboard is an open shelf with a barred base and truncated pyramid-shaped finials to match the legs. An architect and industrial designer, Josef Hoffmann studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna, where he was a pupil of Carl Freiherr von Hasenauer and Otto Wagner, whose theories of functional, modern architecture would profoundly influence his work. He won the Prix de Rome in 1895, and the following year he joined Wagner's office, collaborating with Olbrich on some projects for the Metropolitan. He established his own office in 1898, and taught at the School of Decorative Arts in Vienna between 1899 and 1936. He was also a founding member of the Viennese Secession. In 1900 he travelled 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 which had a great influence on 20th-century industrial design. By 1903, production began on an international scale. In the course of his life, Hoffmann produced a variety of 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.