Table lamp “The Forsaken” Gustav Gurschner ca. 1899

Among the objects Gustav Gurschner designed for the Studiersaal or study interior were various table lamps. Shortly after his debut at the First Exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1898, companies such as Johann Loetz Witwe and E. Bakalowits & Söhne in Vienna began commissioning Gurschner to create artistically sophisticated lighting objects, which were paired with specially coordinated glass shades produced in their own manufactories.
As early as 1897, Gurschner had spent time in Paris, where he absorbed decisive impulses from French Art Nouveau. Characteristic of his designs is the fusion of functional everyday objects with figural elements, frequently in the form of female figures. In the upper section of the lamp base, an intertwined nude couple is depicted, the woman holding the lampshade aloft with outstretched arms. At the foot of the lamp appears the eponymous forsaken woman, immersed in profound sorrow and pain.
The glass shade was produced by the Johann Loetz Witwe manufactory and executed in an unidentified decor, possibly designed by Hans Christiansen for his house in the artists’ colony at Mathildenhöhe. The finely chased ornamental details, dynamically modeled forms, and flowing organic lines attest to Gurschner’s exceptional mastery as a bronze sculptor, while the shade by Johann Loetz Witwe creates a richly atmospheric lighting effect.