Turn-Of-The-Century Viennese Patterns and Designs (review)

Turn-of-the-Century Viennese Patterns and Designs by Koloman Moser. Dover Publications, Mineola, NY, U.S.A., 1998. ISBN: 0-486-40269-X.

Koloman Moser (1868-1918), although overshadowed by his colleagues Josef Hoffmann and Gustav Klimt, was an unjustly neglected participant in the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (which he attended and later directed), the Vienna Secession and the Wiener Werkstatte (Vienna Workshop). Moser was both prolific and versatile, producing paintings, glassware, ceramics, jewelry, metalwork, leatherwork, furniture, textiles, carpets, clothing, posters and lettering (including his wedding invitation), and was a founding contributor to Ver Sacrum (Sacred Spring), the famous Secessionstil magazine. Turn-of-the-Century Viennese Patterns and Designs, a large format, 64-page paperbound album, is an unabridged republication of Flaschen-schmuck (Flat Ornament), a portfolio of 60 full-page all-over pattern designs (half in color, half in black and white) for textiles, wallpaper, rugs and wall hangings, that was published originally in 1901-1902. This instructive, historic collection, like so many of Dover's art-related books, belongs to the Pictorial Archives series, meaning that portions of the book can be reproduced by authors, artists and designers without payment or permission.

For a free catalog of the Dover Pictorial Archive, write to: Dover Publications, 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, NY, U.S.A., 11501.

Reviewed by Roy R. Behrens
2022 X Avenue, Dysart, IA 52224-9767, U.S.A.
E-mail: <ballast@netins.net>.

Roy R. Behrens is a professor of art at the University of Northern Iowa, where he teaches graphic design, illustration and design history. He is editor of Ballast Quarterly Review, art director of the North American Review, contributing editor of Print, and he serves on the board of advisors for Gestalt Theory. His published books include Life of Fiction (with Jerome Klinkowitz), Art and Camouflage, Design in the Visual Arts and Illustration as an Art. E-mail: <ballast@netins.net>.

(Reprinted by permission from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 16, No. 1, Autumn 2000.)

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