Lot Essay
The Wittgenstein family were perhaps the most enduring and valued patrons of Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, (and later the Wiener Werkstätte), and the apartment for Margaret Wittgenstein and her husband Dr. Jerome Stonborough from which the pieces in the following lots originate, was only one of a number of commissions received from the family in the early years of this century.
As early as 1899, through his many contacts forged at the Vienna Secession, Hoffmann received his first Wittgenstein commission from Paul Wittgenstein, brother of the leading industrialist and supporter of the arts, Karl Wittgenstein, to remodel his country house Berghöhe, near Hohenberg, in Lower Austria. Like his brother, Paul Wittgenstein was not only an industrialist but also an art lover, with many friends in the Secession. He remained a faithful client of Hoffman's throughout his life, comissioning him to design a church in St. Aegyd am Neuwald, Lower Austria, in 1902/3, and his apartment in Vienna (1916/17), and was even buried with his sister in law in a tomb designed by Hoffmann in 1912.
In 1900 Karl Wittgenstein commissioned Hoffmann to design an office and dwelling for his forestry administrations in Hohenburg, and later, in 1905, when commissions for the Wiener Werkstätte were somewhat on the wane, Wittgenstein asked Hoffmann to create the sumptous interior for his Hochreith hunting lodge, which he did with input from other designers from the Wiener Werkstätte including Czeska, Moser amd Luksch.
The Wittgenstein's enthusiasm for Hoffmann's innovative designs was not confined to the older generation. When the newly formed Wiener Werkstätte, under the joint artistic directorship of Hoffmann and Moser, mounted their first exhibition at the Hohenzollern Kunstgewerbehaus in Berlin in October 1904, the impact of its starkly modern, predominantly white exhibit was profound. It represented perhaps the peak of collaborative artistic achievement between Hoffmann and Moser, and resulted in, amongst others, the commission to decorate the interior of the Berlin apartment of Karl Wittgenstein's daughter Margaret, and her new husband Dr. Stonborough. Furniture from this interior are offered in this and the following five lots. Doubtless it was Margaret who sought the commission, not only through the influence of her father and uncle, but also through her own very individual taste. She was, like her philosopher brother Ludwig, an independent and somewhat eccentric character. Hermine Wittgenstein in her book Familienerinnerungen, recalls: 'Even in her youth, (Margaret's) room represented a kind of revolt against everything established and conventional. It was completely the opposite of a Jungmädchenzimmer...' - clearly an ideal client for the Wiener Werkstätte. A testament to her style and beauty, her patronage of the Secession and indeed her status in Viennese society, is the striking portrait of Margaret painted by Gustav Klimt in 1905, and exhibited in the Kunstschau Vienna, 1908. Her husband, Dr. Jerome Stonborough was an extraordinarily successful and talented American, who met Maragaret whilst studying medicine in Vienna. He went on to become a higly renowed surgeon on Berlin, and his knowledge of the financial markets ensured that he established a considerable fortune for himself and his wife. In 1912, Margaret purchased the country estate Toscana Park in Gmunden, Austria, where she continued to live with her two sons John and Thomas until her death. Much of the furniture and furnishings from the Berlin apartment and Margaret's Viennese residence came to be used in the Villa Toscana, and additional pieces were acquired by Margaret from the Wiener Werkstätte over time. (see lots 82-85).
For details of the commission for the Berlin apartment and illustrations of the interior, see:
Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Vol.XVIII, 1905/6, p.149 et seq.
Eduard F. Sekler, Josef Hoffmann, Princeton 1985, p.292, Cat. 97
Werner Fenz, Koloman Moser, Salzburg & Vienna 1984, p.33
Werner J. Schweiger, Wiener Werkstätte, Design in Vienna 1903-1932, London, 1984, p.167
For details of the Wittgenstein family history, see:
Paul Wijdeveld, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Architekt, 1994, p.63-67
As early as 1899, through his many contacts forged at the Vienna Secession, Hoffmann received his first Wittgenstein commission from Paul Wittgenstein, brother of the leading industrialist and supporter of the arts, Karl Wittgenstein, to remodel his country house Berghöhe, near Hohenberg, in Lower Austria. Like his brother, Paul Wittgenstein was not only an industrialist but also an art lover, with many friends in the Secession. He remained a faithful client of Hoffman's throughout his life, comissioning him to design a church in St. Aegyd am Neuwald, Lower Austria, in 1902/3, and his apartment in Vienna (1916/17), and was even buried with his sister in law in a tomb designed by Hoffmann in 1912.
In 1900 Karl Wittgenstein commissioned Hoffmann to design an office and dwelling for his forestry administrations in Hohenburg, and later, in 1905, when commissions for the Wiener Werkstätte were somewhat on the wane, Wittgenstein asked Hoffmann to create the sumptous interior for his Hochreith hunting lodge, which he did with input from other designers from the Wiener Werkstätte including Czeska, Moser amd Luksch.
The Wittgenstein's enthusiasm for Hoffmann's innovative designs was not confined to the older generation. When the newly formed Wiener Werkstätte, under the joint artistic directorship of Hoffmann and Moser, mounted their first exhibition at the Hohenzollern Kunstgewerbehaus in Berlin in October 1904, the impact of its starkly modern, predominantly white exhibit was profound. It represented perhaps the peak of collaborative artistic achievement between Hoffmann and Moser, and resulted in, amongst others, the commission to decorate the interior of the Berlin apartment of Karl Wittgenstein's daughter Margaret, and her new husband Dr. Stonborough. Furniture from this interior are offered in this and the following five lots. Doubtless it was Margaret who sought the commission, not only through the influence of her father and uncle, but also through her own very individual taste. She was, like her philosopher brother Ludwig, an independent and somewhat eccentric character. Hermine Wittgenstein in her book Familienerinnerungen, recalls: 'Even in her youth, (Margaret's) room represented a kind of revolt against everything established and conventional. It was completely the opposite of a Jungmädchenzimmer...' - clearly an ideal client for the Wiener Werkstätte. A testament to her style and beauty, her patronage of the Secession and indeed her status in Viennese society, is the striking portrait of Margaret painted by Gustav Klimt in 1905, and exhibited in the Kunstschau Vienna, 1908. Her husband, Dr. Jerome Stonborough was an extraordinarily successful and talented American, who met Maragaret whilst studying medicine in Vienna. He went on to become a higly renowed surgeon on Berlin, and his knowledge of the financial markets ensured that he established a considerable fortune for himself and his wife. In 1912, Margaret purchased the country estate Toscana Park in Gmunden, Austria, where she continued to live with her two sons John and Thomas until her death. Much of the furniture and furnishings from the Berlin apartment and Margaret's Viennese residence came to be used in the Villa Toscana, and additional pieces were acquired by Margaret from the Wiener Werkstätte over time. (see lots 82-85).
For details of the commission for the Berlin apartment and illustrations of the interior, see:
Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Vol.XVIII, 1905/6, p.149 et seq.
Eduard F. Sekler, Josef Hoffmann, Princeton 1985, p.292, Cat. 97
Werner Fenz, Koloman Moser, Salzburg & Vienna 1984, p.33
Werner J. Schweiger, Wiener Werkstätte, Design in Vienna 1903-1932, London, 1984, p.167
For details of the Wittgenstein family history, see:
Paul Wijdeveld, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Architekt, 1994, p.63-67