Yearning for beauty

http://www.renaud-bray.com

http://www.renaud-bray.com

The Wiener Werkstatte, founded in Vienna in 1903 by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, became the international trademark for art as well as arts-and-crafts in the twentieth century. The fascinating history of the Wiener Werkstatte is told in this beautifully designed volume, which features historic photographs (some of them published for the first time here), documents and original texts selected by experts from the MAK (where the Wiener Werkstatte archives have been housed since 1955). Full-page illustrations feature outstanding examples of Wiener Werkstatte objects, covering architecture, furniture, ceramics, glass, books, posters, postcards, carpets, jewelry, fashion and print design. The book also focuses on the innovative total concept used by this avant-garde association to establish an early consumer culture, since the Werkstatte was one of the first organizations to develop a corporate identity that followed a product through every stage from concept and development to marketing. This exceptionally well designed and executed book features a deeply embossed monochromatic silver cover and matching edge pages, as well as a richly illustrated special section on Josef Hoffmann's Stoclet House.