Skip to Content
Closed today, next open Thursday. Closed today, next open Thursday.

Mohnköpfe (Poppyheads) (Dress or Furnishing Fabric)

Large panel of red fabric covered in repeating white floral pattern.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • Large panel of red fabric covered in repeating white floral pattern.

Date:

1900

Artist:

Designed by Koloman Moser (Austrian, 1868–1918)
Produced by Johan Backhausen und Söhne (Austrian, founded 1849)
Austria, Vienna

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.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Textiles

Artist

Koloman (Kolo) Moser (Designer)

Title

Mohnköpfe (Poppyheads) (Dress or Furnishing Fabric)

Place

Vienna (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1900

Medium

Silk, wild silk, and cotton, satin weave self-patterned by ground weft floats

Dimensions

182.9 × 113 cm (72 × 44 1/2 in.); Repeat: 45.5 × 29.8 cm (17 7/8 × 11 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by Mrs. Julian Armstrong, Jr.

Reference Number

1986.963

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

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.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share