Koloman Moser

Koloman Moser was born on 30th March 1868 in Vienna and studied design and painting from 1885 until 1892 at the Viennese "Akademie der bildenden Künste". In 1886 he also studied painting at the "Allgemeine Malerschule". He then studied graphic design between 1893 and 1895 at the Viennese "Kunstgewerbeschule“. From 1899 onwards, Koloman Moser taught there himself. One year later, he became a professor. From 1895 onwards, Koloman Moser worked as a freelance graphic designer. Koloman Moser worked in all fields of the decorative and applied arts, designing furniture, glass objects and jewellery as well as leather goods, textiles, book bindings and even toys. Besides Josef Hoffmann, Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos and Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser was a co-founder of the "Viennese Secession" in 1897. Koloman Moser became the editor of the Secession journal, "Ver Sacrum", to which he contributed numerous works and designs of his own. In 1904 Moser left the Secession, joined forces with Josef Hoffmann and the prosperous banker Fritz Wärndorfer and founded the "Wiener Werkstätte" in 1903. The "Wiener Werkstätte" embraced all fields of craft and design. At the same time, very high quality and material standards were originated. Koloman Moser's works are informed by a compelling geometry, as can be observed in the black-and-white grid pattern, which is typical of his designs. Moreover, his designs are notable for their clarity despite the sophisticated construction, on which they are often based. Apart from his work for the Wiener Werkstätte, Koloman Moser also designed glass for Loetz, textiles for Johann Backhausen & Söhne, and furniture for J. & J. Kohn. After disagreements with Wärndorfer, Koloman Moser left the Wiener Werkstätte in 1908 in order to focus once again more on drawing and oil painting. He created mostly landscapes and figurative paintings, influenced by Ferdinand Hodler. On 18th October 1918, Koloman Moser died in Vienna due to cancer.