Designed by Josef Hoffmann (Austrian, 1870–1956) Produced by the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna, 1903–1932) Austria, Vienna
About this artwork
Josef Hoffmann, artistic director of the Wiener Werkstätte from its inception in 1903 until 1931 (it closed for good in 1932), was a talented and prolific artist. Trained as an architect under Otto Wagner, Hoffmann established a design practice that grew to include furniture, utensils and household objects, jewelry, book bindings, posters, textiles, and wallpaper. His earlier work, exemplified by the iconic pattern of this fabric, reflects a structural or architectural view of pattern in which geometric forms are arranged to form a grid.
Christa Charlotte Mayer. Masterpieces of Western Textiles from The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1969), p. 216, no. 171.
Christa C. Mayer Thurman. Textiles in The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1992), p. 120 (Illus.), 124, 148.
The Art Institute of Chicago: The Essential Guide. Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1993. p. 239 (Illus.).
Art Institute of Chicago, Masterpieces of Western Textiles, Jan. 25–Mar. 2, 1969.
Art Institute of Chicago, Agnes Allerton Gallery, Printed Fabrics from the Permanent Collection, Aug. 8, 1981–Jan. 31, 1982.
Art Institute of Chicago, Agnes Allerton Gallery, A Selection of Fabrics from the 1880s–1940s from the Permanent Collection, Nov.13, 1982–Feb. 15, 1983.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Designed by the Yard: 20th Century Pattern Repeats, Feb. 28–Jun. 25, 1990.
Art Institute of Chicago, Department of European Decorative Arts, Gallery 142, Hoffmann, May 14- Aug. 15, 1992.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Textile Masterpieces from the Art Institute of Chicago’s Collection, Feb. 17–May 2, 1993.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Austrian and German Textiles: 1900-1930 from the Permanent Collection, Jun. 5–Sep. 6, 1993.
Art Institute of Chicago, Elizabeth F. Cheney and Agnes Allerton Textile Galleries, Off the Bolt; Robert Allerton’s Designer Fabrics, Feb. 6-July 19, 2015.
Art Institute of Chicago, European Art before 1900 rotation, Gallery 246, Apr. 26-Dec. 3, 2018.
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