Art Nouveau Armchair by Adolf Loos for Friedrich Otto Schmidt, Vienna, 1890s

Object: armchair
Design: Adolf Loos (Vienna, around 1900) – based on J. M. Olbrich for Dr. Sharpener
Model number: –
Execution: probably F.O.Schmidt (Vienna, around 1900)
Dimensions in cm (H x W x D x SH x SB x ST): 80.5 x 53 x 56 x 45 x 47 x 47
Material: wood, brass
Condition: professionally restored
Provenance: Italian private collection
Literature: The Interior 1901, p. 104 / Decorative Art – Illustrated Magazine for Applied Arts, Volume 6, 1900, p.472 / La poltrona moderna – the modern armchair, Renzi & Borgia, 2018, p. 16-17 / Furniture of the Art Nouveau – Vera J. Behal – Collection of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, 213 / Wagner, Hoffmann, Loos and Viennese Modernism, Eva B. Ottilinger, 2018, pp. 92-94 / Loos, Adolf, apartment hikes, Vienna, 1907, P. 5 / Kulka, H., Adolf Loos. The architect’s work, Vienna, 1931, p.27

Additional Information:
Museum model, exhibited in: Musée d’Orsay / Victoria & Albert Museum / Hofmobiliendepot (Möbel Museum Vienna, 2018)

In this chair design for Marie Turnowsky’s room (Gustav Turnowsky apartment, Wohllebengasse 19, 1040 Vienna), Loos was largely inspired by Olbrich’s armchair for Dr. Friedrich Spitzer (Schleifmühlgasse 4, 1040 Vienna). Around 1898/1899, Joseph Maria Olbrich was a role model for Josef Hoffmann & Adolf Loos when it came to designing furniture. Although Otto Wagner also had a certain influence on Loos, the architect was a staunch opponent of Art Nouveau, especially the Austrian variant, the Vienna Secession. Loos was critical of applied art and contemporary ideas that aimed to fuse handicrafts and everyday life by making everyday objects particularly artful. This clearly set him apart from the artists of the Wiener Werkstätte, who had tried since 1903 to create a connection between everyday life and art.