Stretching over several years, the aim of this project is to reappraise and make public the extensive collection of ex libris, playing and calling cards, papers, postcards, book jackets, promotional brochures, and poster stamps. With this collection, the MAK confirms once more its role as a center of competence for Austrian graphic design. To date, all of the greeting cards from the Biedermeier period, invitation cards and postcards, colored papers, the world-renowned ex libris collection of the publisher Artur Wolf, as well as the fashion plates from the 18th and 19th centuries have been scientifically analyzed. The holdings will eventually be accessible on the “MAK Collection online” website. Furthermore, a comprehensive publication is in preparation, which will not only show the highlights of the collection, but also hopes to do justice to the unknown, often anonymous examples of this ephemeral art.

Project Manager: Kathrin Pokorny-Nagel, Head of MAK Library and Works on Paper Collection/Archive
Editor: Anne-Katrin Rossberg, MAK Curator, MAK Metal Collection and Wiener Werkstätte Archive
Assistant: Aline Müller