About this artwork
Koloman Moser, a prominent Viennese designer, cofounded the Wiener Werkstatte (1903–32), a forward-looking Viennese design workshop. Prior to 1903 he was an influential member of the Moderne Movement in Vienna. Moser was also a founder of the Vienna Secession, the association of young artists who had broken away from the Wiener Künstlerhaus, the accepted artistic forum of the time. Poppyheads, designed by Moser three years before the Wiener Werkstätte was formed, foreshadowed the kind of elegant textile designs he would produce at the Werkstätte. The attenuated lines coupled with the simplification and abstraction of organic forms demonstrate a new aesthetic vision of the time shared by artists and designers in Vienna and Glasgow. Moser’s design was produced in various colors by the Viennese firm of Johann Backhausen und Söhne, which was closely linked to the Werkstätte and is still in business today. The textile was intended for upholstery or curtain fabric, ideally for rooms whose design and furnishings would be produced as total environments by Werkstätte artists.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Textiles
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Artist
- Koloman (Kolo) Moser (Designer)
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Title
- Mohnköpfe (Poppyheads) (Dress or Furnishing Fabric)
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Place
- Vienna (Object made in)
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Date
- Made 1900
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Medium
- Silk, wild silk, and cotton, satin weave self-patterned by ground weft floats
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Dimensions
- 182.9 × 113 cm (72 × 44 1/2 in.); Repeat: 45.5 × 29.8 cm (17 7/8 × 11 3/4 in.)
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Credit Line
- Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Julian Armstrong, Jr.
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Reference Number
- 1986.963
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/64884/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
