Secessionistic Armchair by Wilhelm Schmidt for Friedrich Otto Schmidt, Vienna, 1908, Set of 4

Object: Seating group (4 x armchairs)
Design: Wilhelm Schmidt / Josef Hoffmann School (Vienna, around 1908)
Model number: -
Execution: unknown art furniture carpentry, probably F. O. Schmidt or Prag-Rudniker basketry factory (Vienna, around 1908)
Dimensions in cm (H x W x D x SH x SB x ST): 84 x 54 x 50 x 46 x 49 x 44
Material: oak wood (natural & black), geometric Art Nouveau fabric
Condition: professionally restored
Provenance: Viennese private collection
Literature: Interior decoration, My home, my pride, Volume 19, 1908, pp. 140 - 146 / The interior, IVth year, 1903, pp. 216 & 220 / Art Nouveau furniture - Vera J. Behal - Collection of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts Art, p. 76 / Decorative Art - Illustrated Magazine for Applied Arts, Volume 12, 1904, p. 175 / The International Studio, Vol. 24, November/December/January/February, 1904/05, p. 183 / Alexander Kochs Handbook of modern housing culture, Volume 1 - Bedroom, Darmstadt, 1912, p. 68, p. 68 & 114

Additional Information:

This Secessionist ensemble of four armchairs can be assigned to the “Hoffmann School” due to its design language. Schmidt, Wilhelm (born 1880 in CZK - died after 1928 in CZK), (furniture) designer and architect, was considered Hoffmann's favorite student, with whom he studied at the Vienna School of Applied Arts between 1898-1901. In 1901, the gifted designer and artist founded the “Wiener Kunst im Haus” together with other colleagues, including Hoffmann student Hans Vollmer. This association of like-minded people had the goal of redesigning furnishings. In addition, Schmidt (like Adolf Loos) worked as a designer for the Viennese art furniture carpenter Friedrich Otto Schmidt. Schmidt also worked for the “Prague Rudniker Wickerwork Factory”, founded in 1880, from around 1901. from 1908 he worked as an Austrian representative in the German Werkbund and was one of the founding members of the Austrian Werkbund in 1914. In addition to his role as a designer and architect, he also taught as a professor at the Central Institute for Women's Business in Vienna. In 1914 he was appointed head of the technical school for woodworking in Königsberg a. d. Eger (Kynšperk nad Ohří). Schmidt based his furniture design on the constructive approach of his teacher Hoffmann and attached great importance to a material-appropriate design.

In the 1908 edition of the Art Nouveau magazine “Interior Decoration – My Home, My Pride” (Volume 19, pp. 145-146) Schmidt's armchair for the bedroom of the manufacturer H. Seifert (Vienna) is shown. A very similar model by Schmidt was designed/used for the anteroom of Kapellmeister Franz Lehar (Vienna) (Interior Decoration - My Home, My Pride, Volume 19, p. 144). Karl Witzmann was also unable to escape the formal language of his teacher (J. Hoffmann) and worked on similar chair models, which he had made by Riedel.

During the professional restoration, the highest priority was given to the best possible preservation of the wooden parts.