THE EXHIBITION
On the occasion of his 150th birthday, the exhibition JOSEF HOFFMANN: Progress Through Beauty comprehensively documents for the first time the entire oeuvre of the architect, designer, teacher, and exhibition organizer Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956), one of the luminaries of Viennese Modernism and the international life reform movement. With his indefatigable design work and teaching, Hoffmann cultivated an exemplary model of modern lifestyles based on a construction and product culture that was both shaped by craft and artistically ambitious. The show presents a cross section of Hoffmann’s revolutionary design and his most important buildings, including the Stoclet House in Brussels (1905–1911) and the Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904–1905).Cooperation Partner

PUBLICATION
The exhibition is accompanied by the publication JOSEF HOFFMANN 1870–1956: Progress Through Beauty. The Guide to His Oeuvre, edited by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Matthias Boeckl, Rainald Franz, and Christian Witt-Dörring, with contributions by Matthias Boeckl, Elisabeth Boeckl-Klamper, Rainald Franz, Anette Freytag, Sebastian Hackenschmidt, Otto Kapfinger, Markus Kristan, Christopher Long, Klára Němečková, Andreas Nierhaus, Jan Norrman, Eva-Maria Orosz, Adrián Prieto Fernandez, Ursula Prokop, Lara Steinhäußer, Valerio Terraroli, Wolfgang Thillmann, Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, and Christian Witt-Dörring. English, 448 pages with numerous color illustrations. MAK, Vienna/Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel 2021. As of spring 2021 available at the MAK Design Shop and online at MAKdesignshop.at for € 69.95.Program (1 Events)
Tue, 14.12.2021 7.00 pm
Exhibition Opening
JOSEF HOFFMANN
Progress Through Beauty
Media
Josef Hoffmann, Belt buckle for the Wiener Werkstätte, execution: Karl Ponocny, silver, opal, malachite, coral, 1905
© MAK/Georg Mayer
Josef Hoffmann, Silver flatware for Fritz and Lili Waerndorfer, flat model, silver, Wiener Werkstätte, 1904–1908
© Aslan Kudrnofsky/MAK
Josef Hoffmann, Design for silver flatware for Fritz and Lili Waerndorfer, flat model, Wiener Werkstätte, 1904
© MAK
Josef Hoffmann, Fauteuil from Cabaret Fledermaus, chair, model no. 728, J. & J. Kohn, bentwood, 1907
© MAK/Georg Mayer
Josef Hoffmann, Centerpiece with two handles for the Wiener Werkstätte, brass, 1924
© MAK/Georg Mayer
Josef Hoffmann, Porcelain set “Melon” [Melon] for the Augarten Porcelain Manufactory, 1931
© MAK/Katrin Wißkirchen
Josef Hoffmann, Chair from the dining hall of Sanatorium Westend, Purkersdorf, J. & J. Kohn, wood, leather, 1904
© MAK/Georg Mayer
Josef Hoffmann, Table for the living room of Dr. Hans Salzer’s apartment, ca. 1902
© Wolfgang Woessner/MAK
© Wolfgang Woessner/MAK
Josef Hoffmann, Upholstered chair from the Boudoir d’une grande vedette [Boudoir for a Big Star], Paris World’s Fair, 1937
© MAK/Georg Mayer
Josef Hoffmann, Daybed from the Boudoir d’une grande vedette [Boudoir for a Big Star], Paris World’s Fair, 1937
© Nathan Murrell/MAK
Josef Hoffmann, Reconstruction of the Boudoir d’une grande vedette [Boudoir for a Big Star], Paris World’s Fair, 1937
© MAK
© MAK
Josef Hoffmann, Basket with handles for the Wiener Werkstätte, latticework object, silver, 1906
© MAK/Georg Mayer
Josef Hoffmann, Vase from a dresser set for the Wiener Werkstätte, glass, bronzite, J. & L. Lobmeyr, 1913
© Peter Kainz/MAK