Beschreibung:

BERTOLD LÖFFLER (1874-1960) KUNSTSCHAU. 1908. 14 3/8x19 5/8 inches. Alb. Berger, Vienna. Condition A-: tipped to mat in top corners. Printed on thick stock. Bertold Löffler studied at the Decorative Arts School in Vienna along with Koloman Moser For his entire life he was very active in many different fields of the arts, both creating and teaching. In 1906 he founded "Vienna Ceramics," which operated in conjunction with the Wiener Werkstätte. Much of his graphic work was produced for the "Fledermaus" cabaret, and for the Wiener Werkstätte, for whom he designed posters, postcards, calendars and other collateral material. As a teacher of graphic arts, twenty five of his students' poster projects were printed in a short-lived magazine "Die Flache" (see Swann aution 1935, lot 2). In 1908, Löffler participated in the large art exhibition, "Kunstschau." Organized under the leadership of Gustav Klimt the massive exhibition combined the work of Vienna's Decorative Arts School, the Art School for Women and Girls and the Wiener Werkstätte. It was held in a building built specifically for the show by Josef Hoffmann which contained 54 rooms, and held the work of 179 artists. Room 10 was dedicated to the poster art of Löffler. He also designed one of the posters advertising the exhibition (Oskar Kokoshka designed another one). This poster is a masterful stepping stone between the heavy, often abstract ornamentation of the Secession and the cleaner, more linear designs of the Wiener Werkstätte. This is the smaller format. Denscher 70, Wiener Grafik p. 235, Vienna Secession 13, Modern Poster 45, Maitres 1900 p. 182.