DOI Heft:
Division III: Austria
DOI Artikel:Levetus, A. S.: Austrian architecture and decoration
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.37422#0237
AUSTRIAN ARCHITECTURE AND
DECORATION. By A. S. Levetus.
DURING the past year considerable progress has been made
in Austria in every branch of decorative and applied art.
And this progress has not been confined to Vienna, for in
the provinces the same steady advance may be noticed. A
truly national art has arisen, based on the best traditions of the past,
but adapted to the requirements of modern culture. It is an invigo-
rating, virile and serviceable art, and essentially beautiful. The
work of the younger generation of architects and designers proves
the undoubted value of modern instruction and training. It shows
these men to be eminently practical, and to possess a thorough
understanding of the possibilities of the materials to be employed in
the execution of their designs; indeed, it may be said that at the
Imperial Arts and Crafts School the students are being thoroughly
trained both as designers and craftsmen. And this training, com-
bined with the inherent feeling for art which lies within these
young artists, is certain to bear good fruit.
The stranger, on entering Vienna for the first time, cannot fail
to be impressed by the obvious signs of this modern movement ; it
is in the air. The masts and lamps are festooned with flowers, the
arrangement of which displays a fine sense of harmony of colour,
showing that considerable thought is given to making the city
beautiful. The monuments to be met with on all sides give further
evidence of this fact; and mention may be made here of two
especially fine works by Josef Engelhart unveiled during the past
year—the “Karl Borromaus” fountain (p. 235) and the “ Othmar
Schimkowitz” to the famous Austrian painter, Moriz von Schwind.
Then again the owners are employing the leading architects to
reconstruct and decorate the restaurants and cafes, and several of the
shopkeepers are following their example. The work of such pro-
minent men as Josef Hoffmann, Otto Prutscher, Carl Witzmann,
Adolf Loos and Leopold Forstner is to be met with everywhere.
Carbarets have been erected and decorated by the Wiener Werk-
statte and Josef Urban, while the theatres are essentially modern
Viennese in their decorations. The beneficial influence of the feeling
of repose due to artistic surroundings is recognised by the fact that
various sanatoriums recently erected have almost all been designed
by distinguished architects—Josef Hoffmann, Robert Oerley, and
Freiherr von Krauss among others. Then there is the ever-
increasing number of manufacturers who employ first-rate men to
design for them, and thereby do their share in educating the public
to appreciate the beautiful in modern decorative and applied art.
The appointment of Regierungsrat Dr. Eduard Leisching to
219
DECORATION. By A. S. Levetus.
DURING the past year considerable progress has been made
in Austria in every branch of decorative and applied art.
And this progress has not been confined to Vienna, for in
the provinces the same steady advance may be noticed. A
truly national art has arisen, based on the best traditions of the past,
but adapted to the requirements of modern culture. It is an invigo-
rating, virile and serviceable art, and essentially beautiful. The
work of the younger generation of architects and designers proves
the undoubted value of modern instruction and training. It shows
these men to be eminently practical, and to possess a thorough
understanding of the possibilities of the materials to be employed in
the execution of their designs; indeed, it may be said that at the
Imperial Arts and Crafts School the students are being thoroughly
trained both as designers and craftsmen. And this training, com-
bined with the inherent feeling for art which lies within these
young artists, is certain to bear good fruit.
The stranger, on entering Vienna for the first time, cannot fail
to be impressed by the obvious signs of this modern movement ; it
is in the air. The masts and lamps are festooned with flowers, the
arrangement of which displays a fine sense of harmony of colour,
showing that considerable thought is given to making the city
beautiful. The monuments to be met with on all sides give further
evidence of this fact; and mention may be made here of two
especially fine works by Josef Engelhart unveiled during the past
year—the “Karl Borromaus” fountain (p. 235) and the “ Othmar
Schimkowitz” to the famous Austrian painter, Moriz von Schwind.
Then again the owners are employing the leading architects to
reconstruct and decorate the restaurants and cafes, and several of the
shopkeepers are following their example. The work of such pro-
minent men as Josef Hoffmann, Otto Prutscher, Carl Witzmann,
Adolf Loos and Leopold Forstner is to be met with everywhere.
Carbarets have been erected and decorated by the Wiener Werk-
statte and Josef Urban, while the theatres are essentially modern
Viennese in their decorations. The beneficial influence of the feeling
of repose due to artistic surroundings is recognised by the fact that
various sanatoriums recently erected have almost all been designed
by distinguished architects—Josef Hoffmann, Robert Oerley, and
Freiherr von Krauss among others. Then there is the ever-
increasing number of manufacturers who employ first-rate men to
design for them, and thereby do their share in educating the public
to appreciate the beautiful in modern decorative and applied art.
The appointment of Regierungsrat Dr. Eduard Leisching to
219