12 postcards from the period leading up to the Vienna Secession sent to Joseph Hoffmann, 1895-96. Woodcuts, watercolor, pen and ink on paper. GC141 Postcards Collection
The Graphic Arts Collection holds a dozen postcards, both printed and hand drawn, collected by the Austrian artist and architect Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956). Some of the cards are dated 1895 or 1896, a time when Hoffmann has completed his studies under Otto Wagner at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste and joins Wagner’s architectural firm in Vienna.
The following year, in April 1897, inspired by the artists of the Glasgow School, Hoffmann is a founding member of the Vienna Secession along with Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser, Joseph Maria Olbrich, Max Kurzweil, Wilhelm Bernatzik, and others.
See also Marquand’s complete set of Ver sacrum: Organ der Vereinigung Bildener Künstler Österreichs (Wien: Verlag Gerlach & Schenk, 1898-1903). Marquand Library (SAX): Rare Books Oversize N6494.W5 V47q