BERTOLD LÖFFLER* ( Nieder-Rosenthal 1874 - 1960 Vienna )

BERTOLD LÖFFLER* ( Nieder-Rosenthal 1874 - 1960 Vienna )
Dwarf with a bouquet of flowers
lithograph/paper 28 x 23,5 cm
monogrammed in plate LÖ

SCHÄTZPREIS / ESTIMATE € 350 - 500
STARTPREIS / STARTING PRICE € 350

Bertold Löffler was an Austrian artist. He studied at the school of the Gewerbemuseum (Craft Museum) in Reichenberg in Bohemia, before moving to Vienna to study at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Arts and Crafts), where he eventually became a professor. He was a central figure in the later development of the Wiener Werkstätte. Early in his career, Löffler worked independently as a painter and illustrator and also began to experiment with ceramics. In 1906, he founded the firm Wiener Keramik (Vienna Ceramics) with fellow-artist Michael Powolny. The firm contributed tiles to the Wiener Werkstätte’s Palais Stoclet in Brussels (1905-1911), and, from around 1907 on, the Werkstätte assumed distribution and sales of Wiener Keramik. The Keramik’s figurative pieces sold exceptionally well in the Werkstätte’s shops. Löffler and the Keramik were also significant contributors to the Werkstätte’s Cabaret Fledermaus in Vienna, designing the colorful patchwork of decorative tiles covering the walls of the barroom. Löffler designed a well-known poster for the Cabaret, as well as contributing graphics for its program and stationery, among other things. In 1912, the Wiener Keramik merged with the Künstlerische Werkstätte (Artistic Workshop) Franz und Emilie Schleiss in Gmunden, forming the Vereinigte Wiener und Gmundner Keramik und Tonwarenfabrik Schleiss Gesellschaft (United Vienna and Gmunden Ceramics and Gmunden Earthenware Factory Schleiss). Despite his involvement in the Wiener Keramik, Löffler was primarily a graphic artist. He was involved with the 1908 "Kunstschau" (Art Show), which highlighted the Wiener Werkstätte and the Klimtgruppe (Klimt Group). For the exhibition, Löffler designed a display of contemporary graphics (covering the gallery’s walls from floor to ceiling) and an iconic poster, among other contributions. He also designed postcards for the Werkstätte’s series of nearly one thousand numbered artists’ cards, in addition to Werkstätte jewellery and other products. Löffler and the Wiener Keramik are associated with a stylistic shift at the Werkstätte, from the geometry associated with Hoffmann and Moser in its early years to a more decorative sensibility, as well as a renewed focus on the use of the human figure. Further artists and styles: history painting, fresco painting, design, Ver Sacrum, Secession, Josef von Diveky, Josef Binder, Carl Otto Czeschka

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The purchase price consists of the highest bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and, if applicable, the fee of artists resale rights. In the case of normal taxation (marked ° at the estimate), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax is added to the sum of the highest bid and the buyer's premium. This amounts to 13% for paintings, drawings, graphic works and sculptures and 20% for photographs and all other items. The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.