Max Snischek and Wiener Werkstätte
Elfenbein (Ivory)
1927-1931
Scroll
Physical Qualities
Cotton, Overall: 68 3/4 × 50 1/2 in. (174.6 × 128.3 cm.)
Framed: 73 1/2 × 55 1/2 × 2 1/2 in. (186.7 × 141 × 6.4 cm.)
Credit Line
The Jane and Worth B. Daniels, Jr. Fund
Object Number
2001.327
Max Snischek created this strikingly modern design at the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshop), an association founded in 1903 by artists and craftsmen dedicated to raising the standard of design of everyday objects. Like many other fabrics designed at this avant-garde, multi-faceted studio, Snischek's bold geometric-patterned cotton was used by their fashion department to create sophisticated clothing. Wiener Werkstätte textiles influenced the fabrics of other countries and artists, most notably those of French couturier Paul Poiret (1879-1944). Surviving examples are often fragmentary, making this large section of cloth with "Wiener Werkstätte" printed along the selvage quite rare.
Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 2001; Denis L. Gallion by purchase, 1999; Private Collection, Vienna , Austria by purchase; Chicago Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL.
Völker, Angela ,Textiles of the Wiener Werkstätte 1910-1932, New York: Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., 1996, p. 239.
Völker, Angela , Wiener Mode + Modefotografie. Die Modeabteilung der Weiner Werkstätte 1911-1932, Munich/Paris, 1984, p. 232, fig. 324 illus., p. 281.
Neuwirth, Waltraud, Wiener Werkstätte Avantgarde, Art Deco, Industrial Design, Vienna, 1986, p. 209, p.210, fig. 166 illus.(Photo of pillow covered in this fabric. No i.e. of artist/designer.)
Das Schöne Heim vol. III, 1931-32, p. 159, p.193.
Moderne Bauformen vol. 31, 1932, p. 355.
Ginsburg, Cora, Catalogue of 20th & 21st century costume & textiles, New York: Cora Ginsburg LLC/TitiHalle, 2017, pp.4-5.
Fanelli, Giovanni e Rosalia, Il Tessuto Art Deco E Anni Trenta, Firenze: Cantini Edizioni d'Arte SpA, 1986, no. 134, p. 126, (illustrated in costume by Max Snischeck, Wiener Werkstätte, c. 1925).
Hanninisch, Michael, et al., Ein Führer durch das Österreichische Kunstgewerbe, Leipzig: Verlag Heinz & Company, 1930, p. 157, illust.
Skrypzak, Joann, Design Vienna 1890s to 1930s, Elvehjem Museum of Art-University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2003, p. 11, p. 14, fig. 3 illus., p. 78, fig. 66.
Völker, Angela , Wiener Mode + Modefotografie. Die Modeabteilung der Weiner Werkstätte 1911-1932, Munich/Paris, 1984, p. 232, fig. 324 illus., p. 281.
Neuwirth, Waltraud, Wiener Werkstätte Avantgarde, Art Deco, Industrial Design, Vienna, 1986, p. 209, p.210, fig. 166 illus.(Photo of pillow covered in this fabric. No i.e. of artist/designer.)
Das Schöne Heim vol. III, 1931-32, p. 159, p.193.
Moderne Bauformen vol. 31, 1932, p. 355.
Ginsburg, Cora, Catalogue of 20th & 21st century costume & textiles, New York: Cora Ginsburg LLC/TitiHalle, 2017, pp.4-5.
Fanelli, Giovanni e Rosalia, Il Tessuto Art Deco E Anni Trenta, Firenze: Cantini Edizioni d'Arte SpA, 1986, no. 134, p. 126, (illustrated in costume by Max Snischeck, Wiener Werkstätte, c. 1925).
Hanninisch, Michael, et al., Ein Führer durch das Österreichische Kunstgewerbe, Leipzig: Verlag Heinz & Company, 1930, p. 157, illust.
Skrypzak, Joann, Design Vienna 1890s to 1930s, Elvehjem Museum of Art-University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2003, p. 11, p. 14, fig. 3 illus., p. 78, fig. 66.
Inscribed: 'WIENER WERKSTÄTTE' printed continuously, in black, along right selvage. '1338' is written in black marker at the lower left corner, reverse.