Otto Prutscher was a prominent member of the Wiener Werkstätte and studied under Josef Hoffmann. This plant stand’s towerlike design is a masterful example of the modernist perception of beauty as a direct expression of rational, clear structure. The black-and-white checkerboard is echoed in the alternating tiers of square cachepots. The motif is similar to one employed at the time in Glasgow by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, whose work was well-known and admired in Vienna.
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Charles Rennie Mackintosh," November 21, 1996–February 16, 1997, no. 220.
Art Institute of Chicago. "Charles Rennie Mackintosh," March 29–June 22, 1997, no. 220.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "Charles Rennie Mackintosh," August 3–October 12, 1997, no. 220.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Century of Design, Part I: 1900–1925," December 14, 1999–March 26, 2000, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "A Curator's Eye: J. Stewart Johnson, 1990–2004," March 1–November 6, 2005, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Modern Design: Selections from the Collection," May 30–October 5, 2008, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Highlights from the Modern Design Collection: 1900 to the Present," June 23, 2009–May 1, 2011, no catalogue.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art [The Met Breuer]. "Ettore Sottsass: Design Radical," July 21–October 8, 2017, no catalogue.
Beissbarth & Hoffmann AG. Rheinauer Garten und Verandamöbel Spalierwerke. Mannheim, 1907, p. 20, no. 7, ill.
Dorothee Müller. Klassiker des modernen Möbeldesign: Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser. Munich, 1980, ill. p. 65.
Kirk Varnedoe. Vienna 1900: Art, Architecture & Design. Exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art. New York, 1986, p. 83, ill. p. 116 (collection Julius Hummel, Vienna), attributes it to Koloman Moser and dates it about 1903.
J. Stewart Johnson in "Recent Acquisitions. A Selection: 1993–1994." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 52 (Fall 1994), p. 64, ill. (color).
Barbara Burn, ed. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. 2nd rev. ed. (1st ed., 1983). New York, 1994, p. 464, no. 59, ill. (color).
Gabriele Fahr-Becker. Wiener Werkstaette 1903–1932. Cologne, 1995, p. 28, ill. p. 33 (color), as attributed to Koloman Moser.
Alice Rawsthorn. "Overshadowed Era Comes into Its Own." Financial Times (January 27, 2000), p. 24, calls it a lampstand.
Roberta Smith. "Fun Follows Function." New York Times (July 28, 2017), ill. p. C16 (installation photo, Exh. New York 2017).
Josef Hoffmann (Austrian, Pirnitz 1870–1956 Vienna)
ca. 1910
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