The exhibition in Jihlava will showcase the work of architect Josef Hoffmann

Jihlava - The exhibition at the House of Gustav Mahler will present the lifelong work of architect and designer Josef Hoffmann. His biography is thoroughly mapped out with over 200 period photographs from the collection of the Vienna Museum of Applied Arts. The panels meticulously document Hoffmann's artistic development. Countless detailed pieces of information illuminate various areas of his creation. ČTK was told this today by Jana Bečková, a staff member at the House of Gustav Mahler.
The first part of the exhibition focuses on Hoffmann's youth and education. "Further photographs will showcase his buildings in Vienna, such as the villas on Vienna’s Hohe Warte, the key building of the sanatorium in Purkersdorf, and the Stoclet Palace in Brussels," Bečková stated. Numerous illustrations document Hoffmann's activities at both World Expositions in Paris and his role as a co-founder of the artisan workshops Wiener Werkstätte.
The visual section presents photographs from the studios and workshops of Wiener Werkstätte for the first time publicly, snapshots from the period of collaboration with industrialist Fritz Waerndorfer and painter and designer Koloman Moser. "There are also images from the interiors of private residential houses created by Wiener Werkstätte," Bečková noted. The last part of the exhibition is dedicated to Hoffmann's later works and his influence on architects and theorists of postmodernism.
The exhibition is complemented by independent photographs of Hoffmann's most significant Austrian realizations, taken by the notable Viennese photographer of early 20th-century architecture, Walter Zednicek.
Josef Hoffmann (1870 to 1956) was born in Brtnice near Jihlava. He died in Vienna. He designed furniture, fabrics, silver and metal objects, jewelry, glass, and ceramics. He was an important figure in the Art Nouveau movement in Vienna and the founder of Wiener Werkstätte. His work is characterized by purity of lines and geometric forms.
The exhibition titled Ornament and Modernity will open at the House of Gustav Mahler on Tuesday at 5 PM. It will be open to the public until February 27.