The Work of Koloman Moser
Born in Austria in 1868, Koloman Moser, instead of applying his flair and art education to paintings, embodied the idea of “Gesamt Kunstwerk”, meaning all-embracing artwork, by designing architecture, furniture, jewelry, graphics, and tapestries meant to coordinate every detail of an environment. His work transcended the imitative decorative arts of earlier eras and helped to define Modernism for generations to come. Moser achieved a remarkable balance between intellectual structure, often geometric, and hedonistic luxury.
Collaborating with Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann, Moser was an editor and active contributor to “Ver Sacrum (Sacred Spring)”, the journal of the Viennese Secession that was so prized for its aesthetics and high quality production that it was considered a work of art. The magazine featured drawings and designs in the artist movement “Jugendstil (Youth Style)” along with literary contributions from distinguished writers from across Europe. It quickly disseminated both the spirit and the style of the Secession.
In 1903 Moser and Josef Hoffmann founded and led the “Wiener Werkstatte (Viennese Workshop)’, a collective of artisans that produced elegant decorative arts items, not as industrial prototypes but for the purpose of sale to the public. The plan, as idealistic then as now, was to elevate the lives of consumers by means of beautiful and useful interior surroundings.
Moser’s influence has endured throughout the century. His design sensibility is evident from the mid-century modern furniture of the 1950s and ‘60s to the psychedelic rock posters of the 1970s and remains a source of inspiration to those currently working within the field of applied arts.
For additional information and images, the Fine Arts Library of Harvard University has an online copy of the 1902 “Surface Decoration” by Koloman Moser. The portfolio of thirty lithographs can be seen at : https://www.harvardartmuseums.org/art/56214