FOR ONLY a bit longer than a week, Bratislava fans of architecture and design had an opportunity to view an exhibition about Josef Hoffmann, a central European architect and designer born in what is now the Czech Republic who lived most of his life in Vienna.
Prepared by MAK, the Austrian Museum of Applied Art/Contemporary Arts, the Moravian Gallery in Brno and Prague’s Austrian Cultural Forum, the travelling exhibition opened on August 3 in Bratislava.
The exhibition of posters reviewing the work and life of the architect had finished its tour of the Czech Republic and remained on display at the Slovak National Gallery until August 11.
The posters introduced Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956) as a schoolmate of famous architect Adolf Loos, described his creative periods, and showed examples of his most important works such as villas in Vienna and the Sanatorium Purkersdorf, as well as the Stoclet Palace in Brussels.
While Loos considered ornament a crime, Hoffmann significantly contributed to the development of the style known as Vienna Secession. Along with banker Fritz Wärndorfer and artist Koloman Moser, Hoffmann established the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshops), a production community of visual artists. The workshop’s commitment was to design art which would be accessible to everyone.
