Koloman Moser

Biography

Koloman Moser was born in Vienna in 1868. He trained at the Academy of Fine Arts and the School for Applied Arts in Vienna where he later taught from 1899 to 1918. He was one of the founding members of the Viennese Secession and the Wiener Werkstätte whose style he influenced significantly until his withdrawal in 1908. It were above all the objects designed by Kolo Moser and Josef Hoffmann 1903-1907 with their geometrical outlines and restrained decoration that established the international reputation of both artists. The spiritual kindred between Kolo Moser and Josef Hoffmann manifested itself again and again in almost identical formal designs. The square was similar to Hoffmann one of Moser’s favourite formal elements and was to become a mark of the Wiener Werkstätte in general, for instance as a formal grid in the most varied objects of patterned tin. Kolo Moser was also extremely successful as a graphic designer. His work was continuously featured in the Secession’s own journal Ver Sacrum in the form of graphic art and he also designed exhibition posters for the Secession, whose planar effects and motifs were trend-setting for other artists. His works in the three genres painting, graphics and applied arts are featured in many important public and private collections.