JOSEF HOFFMANN (1870-1956)

Josef Hoffmann, a co-founder of the Wiener Werkstätte, was  a master of creating carefully harmonized and proportioned ensembles of architecture, furniture, glass and metal work, and textiles. The present lot, a Set of Three Ceiling Lights, from the interior of Dr. Hermann Wittgenstein, Vienna, was complemented in the space by black and white checkerboard patterned, geometric chairs and tables. The simple elegance of the glass beads between the shimmering metal plates unified the interior decoration and created a total work of art. The three lights are adaptable as they can be presented as separate works or in the triangular formation as they were presented in the 1986 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.