BIOGRAPHY
Christian Witt-Dörring studied art history and archaeology in Vienna, specialising in the history of furniture and interiors from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. He was head of the furniture collection at the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna from 1979 to 2004, and curator at the Neue Galerie in New York from 1999 to 2018. He has dedicated a lifetime to the study and presentation of Josef Hoffmann and his work, guided by the research and friendship of acclaimed architectural historian Eduard Sekler. This has resulted in academic teachings, along with numerous exhibitions and books that are as rigorous as they are engaging, including Ways to Modernism: Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos and Their Impact (MAK, 2014–15) and Josef Hoffmann: Interiors, 1902–1913 (Neue Galerie, 2006–07). Witt-Dörring was one of the curators of the most extensive Hoffmann exhibition to date: Josef Hoffmann: Progress Through Beauty (MAK, 2022), for which he also co-edited the accompanying book, a seminal scientific study of Josef Hoffmann from A to Z. Josef Hoffmann: Progress Through Beauty could also be framed as Witt-Dörring’s professional ‘farewell’ to Hoffmann’s work and the aspects he championed before they were generally acknowledged, and, by so doing, helped to revive.
By URSULA GRAF
Josef Hoffmann – pupil of Otto Wagner, founder of the Wiener Werkstätte and professor at the Vienna School of Applied Arts – was also a restless designer of textiles. The collection of fabric and carpet designs in the Backhausen Archive is an impressive testament to this.1 As an article on the textile designs that predated the Wiener Werkstätte puts it: “Designers need receptive and openminded manufacturers for the execution of their ideas. In Vienna the well-known firm Johann Backhausen & Söhne was the leading pioneer in this field.”2 While Otto Wagner marks the first collaboration of the firm Joh. [Johann] Backhausen & Söhne with architects and craftsmen of “Viennese Modernism”, and Koloman Moser’s first design for the Backhausen firm dates from 1898, it is the more than forty years of collaboration from 1901 onwards, resulting in over 250 designs from Hoffmann’s hand, that exemplarily traces the development of Viennese Modernist textiles.
Between Josef Hoffmann’s first design (Dess. 4312) from 1901, a salon carpet, to his last design for the Backhausen company (Dess. 11648) from 1942, there is a broad spectrum of textile surface patterns and fashions. In the early days, Hoffman’s designs were characterised by an orthogonally structured way of working. It earned him the nickname “Quadratl-Hoffmann”. This attitude gradually dissolved, and as early as 1904, floral, naturalistic elements were added (Dess. 5054). In the 1930s, Hoffmann’s textile designs grew more abstract, for example with the fabric design ‘Tabu’ (Dess. 10730) from 1930. In his last design for Backhausen (Dess. 11648) from 1942, Hoffmann surprises with a naturalistic rendition of the eponymous ‘Mulberry’, with a freely interpreted, much more attractive five-petalled leaf shape.
Hoffmann designed almost exclusively on squared paper. This square grid served as an organising principle for repeating
or those already threatened with oblivion “in an unorthodox manner”.7 Hoffmann brought the worn-out stylistic vocabulary into an unfamiliar context, keeping the memory of the past alive.8 and patterning, and is even reflected in the later, sometimes very organic designs, for example (sketch no. 1030) from 1909, which completely abandoned the canon of forms built up from squares, rectangles, triangles, rhombuses, and arc segments. Patterns emerged, seemingly light-footed, from variously combined, simple pattern pieces based on the square grid. With Hoffmann, the formal principle of interlocking squares became a Wiener Werkstätte trademark, but it only determined Hoffmann’s textile ornamentation for a relatively short period of time, from around 1901 to 1905, even if the square grid remained part of his compositional principle, as in ‘Atho’ (Dess. 10709) from 1930.
Hoffmann’s pronounced relationship to textiles seems to have had a lasting influence on his understanding of form. Even as a child, Hoffmann played with old wooden models from his father’s hand-printing and calico production in his hometown of Brtnice.3 Adolf Loos – at first a companion of Hoffmann’s but later a harsh critic of the Secession and the Wiener Werkstätte –considered the invention of patterns to be a low activity unworthy of an artist, producing “ornaments without a past and without a future”, but Hoffmann had no such reservations.4 On the contrary, richly decorated textiles were a fixed component of the Gesamtkunstwerk’s absolute ambience. A master in the transmission of ornamental forms, Hoffmann repeatedly revisited historical ornaments to create something new. Ornaments and patterns were considered a “creative thought exercise” and pursued “almost compulsively”.5
Peter Gorsen attests to Hoffmann’s “individual artisanal design thinking” and sees in his “aversion to any forced gratification by a monistic design system a progressive motive for his modernity”.6 In all his creative phases, Hoffmann retained a historical memory for the pluralism of formal languages that was still trained in the Ringstrasse era. He succeeded in applying familiar formal types
1 Backhausen’s history of weaving goes back to 1815, though 1849 is listed as the founding year of ‘Johann Backhausen & Söhne’. The company’s founder Johann Backhausen (1818–1886) opened a sales office in the recently completed Heinrichhof on Opernring in Vienna as early as 1864. At this time, the Backhausen company was obviously not only equipped in terms of weaving technology but also had the capacity, understanding and entrepreneurial spirit to dedicate itself to truly pioneering work and extensively implement completely new surface patterns for textiles, first by the Secessionists and later by the Wiener Werkstätte. With the outbreak of the First World War, there was a slump in production. Nevertheless, the collaboration with trend-setting artists and architects, above all Josef Hoffmann but also Dagobert Peche, Otto Prutscher, Josef Frank and My Ullmann, continued in the 1920s and 1930s. Just before the end of the Second World War, the business headquarters in Heinrichhof were completely destroyed. Only the company archives survived the war undamaged. The Backhausen company was able to quickly re-establish itself after the war. In the 1980s, the company became the established contact point for textile design of Viennese modernism through the reissued fabric designs. The archive reflects the eventful history of the Backhausen company. At the beginning of the 2010s, Backhausen experienced increasing economic difficulties. Louise Kiesling took over in 2014, which gave the company new perspectives in its continuation of its textile heritage, full of originality and the highest craftsmanship. Under her prudent leadership, the archive was indexed and digitised. Her untimely death in 2022 ushered in the end of the company. In June 2023, the weaving mill in Hoheneich was finally shut down. The listed Backhausen Archive and the Backhausen brand remain in family hands to this day. See Ursula Graf, ‘Johann Backhausen & Söhne’, in Eva Ottillinger (ed.) Wagner, Hoffmann, Loos und das Möbeldesign der Wiener Moderne: Künstler, Auftraggeber, Produzenten (Böhlau Verlag, Wien, Köln, Weimar, 2018), 135–138.
2 Angela Völker, Textiles of the Wiener Werkstätte 1910–1932 (Thames & Hudson, 1994), 22.
3 Eduard F. Sekler, Josef Hoffmann. Das architektonische Werk (Salzburg, 1982), 10.
4 Burkhardt Rukschcio, ‘Ornament und Mythos’, in Alfred Pfabigan (ed.), Ornament and Asceticism (Vienna, 1985), 66.
5 Angelika Völker, ‘Josef Hoffmann’s Gesamtkunstwerk. Ornament und Muster’, in Peter Noever and Oswald Oberhuber (eds.), Josef Hoffmann: Ornament zwischen Hoffnung und Verbrechen (Salzburg, 1987), 15.
6, 7 Peter Gorsen, Ornament und Askese (Christion Brandstätter Verlag & Edition, Wien, 1985), 69–92.
8 In this attitude, Christian Witt-Dörring discerns the “ambiguous” quality of Viennese modernism.
1 Armchair for the children’s room, 1909–1910
2 Chair for the dining room, 1909–1910
3 Fauteuil for the smoking room and hall, 1909–1910
4 Fauteuil for the big hall, 1909–1910
5 Fauteuil for the master bathroom, ca. 1911
6 Garden bench, 1909–1910
7 Garden bench, 1909–1910
8 Armchair for the library, ca. 1908
9 Carl Otto Czeschka, armchair for the ladies’ salon, 1909–1910
10 Carl Otto Czeschka, fauteuil for the music and theatre hall, 1909–1910
Essays
Ursula Graf
Adrián Prieto
Christian Witt-Dörring
Conversation
Laurent Flagey
Aude Stoclet
Editing
Adrián Prieto
Nikolaas Verstraeten
Project management
Stephanie Van den bosch
Copy-editing
Cath Phillips
Xavier De Jonge
Proofreading
Cath Phillips
Karin Theunis
Charlotte Duplicy
Translation from German
Michael Huey
Valentin Thijs
Translation from French
Charlotte Duplicy
Translation from Dutch
Helen Simpson
Graphic Design
Joris Kritis
Printing die Keure, Bruges, Belgium
Binding
Abbringh, Groningen, The Netherlands
Publisher
Gautier Platteau
This publication accompanies the exhibition Josef Hoffmann: Falling for Beauty at the Art & History Museum, Brussels, presented from 6 October 2023 to 14 April 2024. This presentation is based on the exhibition Josef Hoffmann: Progress Through Beauty by the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, in 2021, curated by Matthias Boeckl, Rainald Franz and Christian Witt-Dörring.
Acknowledgments
For their contributions, we cordially thank the authors, our colleagues at the Art & History Museum and the MAK team.
For their support, we want to thank the following individuals, institutions and companies: Architekturzentrum Wien, Paul Asenbaum, Stefan Asenbaum, Boris Atrux-Tallau, Backhausen Archive, bel etage Kunsthandel, Astrid Böhacker, Daria Bocharnikova, Judith Burger, Antonia Croy, Lukas De Ryck, Ambassador Ghislain and Catherine D’Hoop, Karoline Eberhardt, Antoine Flagey, Axelle Flagey, Quentin Flagey, Rainald Franz, Nathan Gatignol, Silvia Herkt, Lilli Hollein, Martina Kandeler-Fritsch, Wolfgang Karolinsky, Kathrin Kneissel, Ambassador Elisabeth Kornfeind, Emil Kowalczyk, Kunsthandel Widder Vienna, Leopold Museum, J. & L. Lobmeyr Crystal, Galerie Yves Macaux, mumok, Thomas Matyk, Lucy McKenzie, Ambassador Jürgen Meindl, Eleonore Moncheur de Rieudotte, Margareta Primavesi, Otto Konstantin Primavesi, Sophie Pils & family, Ernst Ploil, Peter Prokop, Leonid Rath, Patricia Sekler, Maria Scheibelhofer, Susanne Schneeweiss, Carole Schuermans, Secession Vienna, Waltraud Strommer, Simon Thielen, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Universität für angewandte Kunst Vienna, Richard Venlet, Bob Verhelst, Ambassador Caroline Vermeulen, Alena Volk, Roland Widder, Elisabeth Williams, Karin Zimmer.
Inventory numbers of the illustrated works University of Applied Arts, Collection & Archive 19.019/13/FW (p. 46) Backhausen Archive
ISBN 978 94 6466 677 9
D/2023/11922/60
NUR 642/648
© Hannibal Books, 2023 www.hannibalbooks.be
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders for all texts, photographs and reproductions. If, however, you feel that you have inadvertently been overlooked, please contact the publisher.
Unless stated otherwise, all works illustrated in this book are by Josef Hoffmann.
BA03868 (p. 21); BA03710 (p. 22); BA06200 (p. 33); BA05642 (p. 24); BA03724 (p. 25); BA03693 (p. 26); BA03873 (p. 28); BA03352 (p. 29); BA05640 (p. 30); BA03802 (p. 31); BA05641 (p. 33); BA03702 (p. 34); BA03679 (p. 35); BA03973 (p. 36); BA03942 (p. 37); BA03859 (p. 38); BA03963 (p. 40); BA03805 (p. 139); BA03833 (p. 56, n° 26) Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) KI 11971-1 (p. 2); KI 11995-5 (p. 4); KI 11971-20 (p. 6); KI 12039-5 (p. 8); H 2087 (p. 10); WWF 101-43-1 (p. 12); H 2090-2 (p. 13); WWF 96-223-5 (p. 18); WWF 102-79-4 (p. 42); BI-11912-1925-129 (p. 48); BI-17860-1925 (p. 49); BI-97107-1914-10 (p. 50); ME 846, n° 18 (p. 51); KI 12056-22 and ME 846 (p. 52); GO 2005, n° 19 and KI 12053-24-2, n° 20 and KI 8803-1, n° 21 and WWF 97-11-7, n° 25 (p. 53); KI 8951-30, n° 28 and WWF 105-263-2, n° 29 (p. 56); WWF 105-263-2 (p. 58); KI 8951-30 (p. 59); H 2870 (p. 62); KI 8951-5 (p. 63); KI 13740-5 (p. 64); WWF 104-183-3 (p. 67); WWF 104-183-2 (p. 68); 103-175-3 (p. 69); WWF 103-175-1 (p. 70); WWF 103-182-4 (p. 71); WWF 105-241-2 (p. 72); WWF 105-241-3 (p. 73); WWF 101-57-3 (p. 74); WWF 105-270-4 (p. 75); WWF 105-256-4 (p. 76); WWF 137-4-2 (p. 81); BI-97107-1914-3 (pp. 82–83); BI-97107-1914-4-2 (pp. 86–87); BI-97107-1914-15 (pp. 88–89); BI-971071914-12 (p.89); MAL 226-6 (p. 90); BI-97107-1914-20 (p. 92); BI-97107-1914-30 (p. 94);BI-97107-1914-28 (pp. 94–95); WWF 95-145-1 (p. 96); WWE 14-1 (p. 9697); BI-97107-1914-22 (p. 98); WWF 98-62-1 (p. 101); KI 7401-4 (p. 108); H 2062 (p. 109); H 2802 (p. 110); H 2304 (p. 111); KI 12086-9 (p. 112); WWF 93-48-5 (p. 113); WWF 93-1-4 (p. 115); GO 2005 (p. 117); KI 13746-23 (p. 118); WWF 97-26-5 (p. 119); WWF 93-28-3 (p. 120); KI 12172-4 (p. 121); WWF-102-88-1 (pp. 122–123); WWF 102-100-2 (p. 124); WWF 97-8-8 (p. 125); WWF 99-9-5 (p. 126); WWF 99-6-2 (p. 127); WWF 102-106-1 (p. 129); WWF 104-215-1 (p. 130); WWF 105-264-1 (p. 133); H 2990 (p. 135); WWF 104-212-1 (p. 136); WWF 104-207-1 (p. 138); WWF 102113-2 (pp. 140–141); KI 12053-24-2 (p. 142); KI 12163-9 (p. 146); WWE 14-1 (p. 147); WI 1123 (p. 148); WWF 9877-3 (p. 149); WWF 115-3-7 (p. 151); WWF 187-134 (p. 152); WWF 96-190-2 (p. 153); ME 867 (p. 154); WWF 96-193-9 (p. 156); KE-7347 (p. 157); KI 11995-3 (p. 158); GL 3784 (p. 160); KI 12041-10 (p. 163); KI 10147-150 (p. 169); KI 10147154 (pp. 170–171); LI 10889 (p. 173); KI 8803-1 (p. 177); H3815 H2058-61 (pp. 182–183); KI 9197-2-1 (p. 186); H 1701 (p. 187); H 1701 (p. 188); H 3564 (p. 189); H 3564 (p. 190); H 2722 (p. 196); H 2010 (p. 198); KI 14831 (p. 199).
Photo credits
© Gerald Zugmann/MAK: pp. 16–17
© MAK/Georg Mayer: pp. 10, 13, 62, 90, 109, 111, 114, 135, 167, 182–183, 196
© MAK/Nathan Murrell: pp. 187, 188, 189, 190, 198
© Michael Huey: pp. 11, 197
© Luk Vander Plaetse: p. 131
© Julius Scherb: p. 186
© Fritz Simak/MAK: p. 110
© MAK/Katrin Wisskirchen: pp. 117, 148, 154, 157
© Yoichi R. Okamoto: n° 36 (p. 64)
© MAK/Tamara Pichler: p. 52
© MAK/Kristina Wissik: p. 160
Front cover
Cut-out of a small bowl, ca. 1928, glossy paper on paper, © MAK, KI 11971-19
Back cover
Glass window for a door in the vestibule of the Hochreith hunting lodge near Hohenberg, Lower Austria, designed for Karl Wittgenstein, 1906, © MAK, WWF 103-135-4
