Koloman Moser (1868-1918) – Austrian Jugendstil painter, graphic artist and designer
Postcard made of thin, colour-printed cardboard
Vienna, 1898
Monogrammed ‘KM’ within the picture at the lower left
Dimensions: 14.1 x 8.8 cm
Good condition
The motif of our postcard has also been printed in poster format; Koloman Moser’s famous exhibition posters for the Vienna Secession fetch up to €25,000 at international auctions

This postcard shows the profile of a woman, who examines a beautiful glass in her hands. The subsurface of the card is coloured in shimmering gold with a decorative trim at the bottom line. The headline shows figural elements and reads: "'VER SACRUM ERSTE GROSSE KUNSTAUSSTELLUNG DER VEREINIGUNG BILDEND. KÜNSTLER OESTERREICHS SECESSION". The present piece is part of a series of 15 postcards that were produced in 1898, on the occasion of the first exhibition of the Vienna Secession that was founded only one year before. Most of them, our postcard included, were composed by the artist Koloman Moser who was one of the Secession’s founders. Additionally to the postcard prints, our particular version was also produced as a poster.



Condition

The postcard is in a good overall condition with only small traces of age and use. Accordingly, the golden colour surface shows slight abrasions at the lower part. There is also a fine, horizontal scratch at the height of the lower margin of the woman’s profile. The work is monogrammed "KM" within the woman’s profile picture at the lower left. The postcard is inscribed "Verlag v. Gerlach & Schenk Wien" at the lower right and numbered "3" at the upper right. Furthermore, it is titled "VER SACRUM ERSTE GROSSE KUNSTAUSSTELLUNG DER VEREINIGUNG BILDEND. KÜNSTLER OESTERREICHS SECESSION" at the upper centre. The postcard measures 14.1 x 8.8 cm. It is mounted in a passe-partout that also shows slight traces of use. It measures 26 x 20.8 cm.



Koloman Moser (1868-1918)

Koloman Moser, born in Vienna, was one of the most important representatives of the Viennese Jugendstil and worked as a painter, graphic artist and designer. He was co-founder of the Vienna Secession that was founded in 1897. Moser particularly supported them by his numerous illustrations for the Secession‘s magazine "Ver Sacrum". Besides, Moser also worked intensively as a craftsman. In 1903, he accordingly established the production community "Wiener Werkstätten" (engl. Vienna’s Workshops) together with his artist friend Josef Hoffmann. Apart from the latter, the artists Gustav Klimt, Ferdinand Hodler and Carl Moll highly influenced his style. Today, most of Moser’s oeuvre belongs to the collections of the Leopold Museum and the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. (cbo)

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