Studio: international art (39.1907)

The Imperial Arts and Crafts Schools, Vienna

PAPER STENCIL BY MELA KOHLER

(PROF. MOSER'S CLASS)

manufacturers, peasants, and tradesmen, who are
easily able to procure such certificates when neces-
sary. But it is otherwise with the female students,
who are generally the daughters of civil service
clerks and those of like standing; these, although
they perhaps do not earn more than the fathers
of the male students, cannot, owing to their
position, demand such a certificate. It is the
old story told in all lands, and although the
fees are not high, the cost of living in Vienna
is a heavy demand on very limited purses.
For this reason it is astonishing how many
young women attend the schools. Besides the
stipends mentioned, the Archduke Rainer and
Baron Albert Rothschild both give travelling
scholarships, the latter's being particularly valu-
able. When it is mentioned that special sums
are set aside by the authorities for providing
studios, materials and other necessities, it will
be seen that the Government tries to do its
duty towards the young. The astonishing
thing is that in a city like Vienna so little
should be done by way of private initiative.
This may be said of all things.

Naturally, in a land composed of so many
races and languages as is Austria, the students
speak very varied tongues, many of them having
to learn German when they first come to
Vienna, for in Austria no less than nine
different languages or dialects are spoken.
^ There are two classes of students, ordinary

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and extraordinary ; to the former belong Austrian-
born subjects, the latter are foreigners. The fees
for the former vary from 36—60 kronen yearly, the
latter pay 300 kronen a year, but no foreigner is
admitted without special permission from the
Government. All have to pass a satisfactory
examination before being admitted. A male
student who satisfactorily passes through these
schools can, on the strength of his leaving certi-
ficate, be excused two of the three years of military
service, and thus become a Freiwilliger (volunteer).
This places him in the same rank as those attend-
ing the secondary schools. The previous education
requisite for admittance is four classes of a gymna-
sium or Realschule; no pupil is admitted to the
general course before having completed his four-
teenth year, and none to the special courses under
seventeen. Even then the rules are stringent, for
if it is considered that a student does not make
satisfactory progress at the end of the first year he
is requested to leave. .

Thanks to the exertions of Professor Moser and
others the schools now possess their own labora-
tories as well as kilns for the making of pottery.
The students have every opportunity not only
of learning the art of decoration but also of
applying it, and this has resulted in the pro-
duction of ceramic objects of great artistic value.

DRAWN-THREAD CURTAIN DESIGNED AND EXECUTED BY
LEOPOLDINE KOLBE (PROF. MOSER's CLASS)

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