joseph scissorhands: Leopold Museum Revisited

In a city of truly outstanding museums The Leopold Museum might just perhaps be my favourite of the bunch in Vienna. Perhaps. I'd visited previously of course (here), and was stunned by the singular vision of collector Rudolf Leopold who had amassed the largest single group of Egon Schiele paintings. On this visit the curators at the Leopold had mixed things up. There were less Schiele works on display this time, and more space had been given over to the paintings of Schiele's friend and mentor Gustav Klimt. Much space had also been given over to the astonishingly prolific and versatile works of the artists and designers who made up the collective known as the Weiner Werkstätte. The museum building itself had also had a makeover with the addition of what looked like a series of haloes on top which shone beautifully when illuminated in the night. My eyes had been opened afresh to the charms and possibilities of working in the medium of ceramics last year (here, and here), and so it was lovely to encounter these charming examples by Austrian practitioners of the craft from the beginning of the twentieth century at the start of my journey through the Leopold.

Kitty Rix-Tichacek - Lion figure c.1925

Hedwig Schmidl - Woman's Head c.1920s

Vally Wieselthier - Woman's Head with Small Hat, 1928

Dina Kuhn, Satyr's Head, undated

Gudrun Baudisch-Wittke - Double Portrait with Vally Wieselthier, 1929

My next encounter was with some lyrical paintings and great examples of Seccessionist graphics. I'd seen an example of artist Erika Giovanna Klein's work Diving Bird, previously at the Belvedere museum in Vienna (here), and I enjoyed the lightness of touch, and delicacy of the tones, as well as the sense of movement evoked in her Flight of Birds painting here at the Leopold just as much. I liked the way the Seccessionist designers pushed the boundaries with their use of typography, challenging traditional notions of legibility with their hand-drawn fonts.

Wilhelm List - Salome, 1906

Max Kurzweil - Female Nude in Front of Mirror, 1907

Erika Giovanna Klein - Flight of Birds, 1951

Secession exhibition posters

Secession exhibition poster

Oskar Kokoschka - Exhibition posters, 1908

I had been to see - Into The Night: Cabaret and Clubs in Modern Art, at the Barbican earlier in the year (here), which had included a section on Vienna's celebrated Cabaret Fledermaus. It was so good to see the Leopold's own section devoted to the celebrated Cabaret Fledermaus, and further pieces of furniture, graphics and interiors created by the artists and designers of the Weiner Werkstätte for every aspect of the nightclub project which weren't included in the Barbican show. Into The Night is now coincidentally on display currently in Vienna across town at the Lower Belvedere museum.

Recreation of Cabaret Fledermaus interior with Josef Hoffman furniture designs

Architectural model of Cabaret Fledermaus interior

Cabaret Fledermaus playbill by Otto Czeschka, 1907

Cabaret Fledermaus graphic design

Cabaret Fledermaus graphic design - Franz Karl Delavilla

Programme for Cabaret Fledermaus

The next section of the Leopold I moved into was dedicated to the artist Gustav Klimt. It featured a reproduction of his famous smock/robe, and a recreation of the studio that Klimt moved into at Josefstädter Straße in 1892 which contained a valuable set of furniture designed by Josef Hoffman which was manufactured by the Weiner Werkstätte. This section displayed a good selection of Klimt landscapes and also featured the decorative, stylised personal effects of his muse Emilie Flöge. The reproduction of her Reform dress design is gorgeous, an ethereal, frothy confection of pleats and ruffles, and something I want to pay future homage to as part of my Dress series.

A reproduction of Gustav Klimt's painting gown

Gustav Klimt - Head Study of a Girl From Haná, c.1883

Gustav Klimt - Lady with Cape and Hat on a Red Background, 1897-98

Gustav Klimt - Schubert at the Piano (Study), 1896

Gustav Klimt - Forest Floor, 1881-82

Gustav Klimt - Orchard in the Evening, 1898

Gustav Klimt - Orchard, c.1898

Gustav Klimt - A Morning by the Pond, 1899

Gustav Klimt - Forest Pond with Water Lilies, 1900

Gustav Klimt - Litzlbergkeller, 1915-16

Gustav Klimt - Schönbrunner Landscape, 1916

Recreation of Klimt's Josefstädter Straße studio c.1892

Schwestern Flöge - Reform Dress c.1909 (reproduction)

The next section of the Leopold focused on the amazing products created by the artists and designers of the Weiner Werkstätte workshops. They were so prolific and diverse in their approach to art and design working in disciplines as different as art, fashion, textiles, furniture, jewellery, metalwork, graphics and glass. Their output was astounding, and in this respect the Weiner Werkstätte's multi-disciplinary approach to art and design could be considered a forerunner to the Bauhaus schools. Many of the striking Weiner Werkstätte designs still look very modern and would fit seamlessly into any contemporary interior.

Koloman Moser - Armchair for the Purkersdorf Sanatorium, 1903

Josef Hoffman - Bentwood Seven-Ball Chair, 1907-08, and Bentwood chair Model no. 322

Joseph Maria Olbrich - Display Cabinet from the Darmstadt Room at the World Exhibition, Paris, 1900

Joseph Maria Olbrich - Display Cabinet from the Darmstadt Room at the World Exhibition, Paris, 1900, (detail)

Joseph Maria Olbrich -Chair, 1898-99

koloman Moser - Suite of furniture for the Hellmann Salon, 1904

Josef Hoffman - Coffee pot, 1922

Koloman Moser - The Awakening of Blossoms, fabric design, 1900

Weiner Werkstätte jewellery designs (most pieces seen here are by Josef Hoffman)

Josef Hoffman - Flower Basket, 1903

Koloman Moser -Ver Sacrum, Girl's Head, undated

Josef Hoffman - Weiner Werkstätte glassware, 1911-14

Otto Prutscher - Wine and Champagne Glasses, 1908

Josef Hoffman - Series B Weiner Werkstätte glassware, c.1911

Koloman Moser - Vases, c.1900

Leopold Bauer - Two Cube-shaped Vases, 1900

Having experienced and been greatly impressed by Otto Wagner's beautiful Kirche am Steinhof (here), earlier in my Vienna trip, it was great to see some of the original designs for the fixtures at the Leopold. These included items such as Koloman Moser's full scale designs for the stained glass windows of the church. Visitors are able to closer examine some of architect Wagner's designs for the church lighting and also rare original furniture designs for the Postal Savings Bank (here) which weren't present in the actual building.

Koloman Moser - Stained Glass designs for the Angel Windows at Kirche am Steinhof, 1905

Otto Wagner - 8 Flame Pendant Chandelier, for Kirche am Steinhof, undated

Otto Wagner - Bentwood armchair for the Postal Savings Bank, Vienna, 1906

The last section on this level of the Leopold Museum was reserved for a display of the work of Egon Schiele. Many of the stunning works seen on my last visit were either in storage or out on loan to other museums. There was more than enough here though to satisfy any enthusiast of Schiele's works. These included many pieces that I had never seen before, so this was an extra bonus for me. It was a fantastic high on which to end my visit to the museum. I was absolutely floored once again by the quality of the works on display as well as the diverse talents of the artists and designers themselves. The curators have done a wonderful job, but then they have so many quality artworks and objects to work with. Night had fallen as I left the Leopold, and I was able to admire and fully appreciate the full effects of the 'haloes' on top of the building in the dark.