Candlestick “Diana” Karl Hagenauer ca. 1923
Candlestick “Diana”, Karl Hagenauer, Werkstatte Hagenauer Wien, early version around 1923, brass, marked
This candlestick bears the rare marking “KH” for Karl Hagenauer and thus probably belongs to one of the first versions;Bib.: Olga Kronsteiner in Monika Wenzl-Bachmeier (ed.), „Hagenauer – Wiener Moderne und Neue Sachlichkeit“ (Hagenauer – Viennese Modernism and New Realism), exhibition catalogue, Vienna, 2011, p.28
Description
The pupil of Josef Hoffmann and freelance worker for the Wiener Werkstätte Karl Hagenauer was one of the leading creators of the Viennese Design. Until the end of the 1920s, Josef Hoffmann tasked the talented Karl Hagenauer with some designs for the Wiener Werkstätte. However, from circa 1930 onwards, his whole attention was drawn to the Werkstatte Hagenauer Wien.
This piece clearly shows the beginning of the rejection of the Wiener Jugendstil and the slow attraction towards Art Deco. The floral ornaments are classical style elements of the Jugendstil while the stand and the figurines show a clear reduction of the shape and a progress of the trend towards a dynamic form language. The two brothers Hagenauer have elevated this dynamic form language to a new trend in art. This candlestick also bears the initials “KH” for Karl Hagenauer and seems to be one of his early designs.
Artist
Execution
Werkstätte Hagenauer – stylistic evolution and importance
Today, the Werkstatte Hagenauer is rightfully among the most important Austrian Arts & Crafts manufacturers of the 20th century. The clear, strict formal language combined with dynamic poses and the usage of brass, nickel-plated, patinated or bare, along with copper, alpaca and exotic wood shows a high level of recognition.
However, it took the siblings Karl and Franz Hagenauer quite some time until they developed their own unique style. Karl and Franz both attended the Vienna School of Arts & Crafts and studied under Josef Hoffmann, Oskar Strnad, Anton Hanak and Dagobert Peche.
Until the closure of the Werkstatte Hagenauer on December 30, 1987, art objects of outstanding quality were still being produced. The siblings Karl and Franz Hagenauer strongly contributed in coining the term „design“ through their legacy and are surely among the most influential Austrian artists of the 20th century.
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