Hoffmann's Carver Chair from Gallia Apartment, Vienna (1913)

Josef Hoffmann Wiener Werkstatte carver chair from the Gallia apartment in Vienna, circa 1913. 90 cm high, 60 cm across the arms Josef Hoffmann (1870?1956) attended the Academy of fine Arts in Vienna and studied architecture under Otto Wagner (one of Vienna's most celebrated architects who bridged the old style of architecture and the new, modern forms). In 1903, with Koloman Moser and financier Fritz Waerndorfer, Hoffmann founded the Wiener Werkstatte. The collaboration of artists, designer architects and artisans enabled the realisation of the 'Total artwork'. Hoffmann's designs were based on simple and clear proportions and employed rich, high-quality materials. Everyday objects were conceived as part of a whole living environment and were considered works of Art. 'Our middle class is far from having fulfilled its duty to the arts. Its turn has come to do full justice to the course of progress. It cannot be enough for US to buy paintings, however beautiful they May be. As long as our cities, our houses, our rooms, our cupboards, our everyday appliances, our clothes our jewels, as long as our language and feelings do not represent the spirit of our age in a purer, simpler and more beautiful way, we shall remain infinitely backward compared to our ancestors ..' the Gallias ? Moriz and Hermine ? were wealthy Viennese landowners and entrepreneurs. Like other wealthy Jewish families, they were patrons of the arts and supporters of new movements in Art and design, such as the Vienna Secession and the Wiener Werkstatte. (Moriz became chairman of the Wiener Werkstatte board in 1915). In 1910, Moriz Gallia acquired a building that was to be the site for his future family home. He demolished the existing building and in its place constructed a new building with five storeys, an attic and a basement. The family's apartment was located on the first floor mezzanine. The remainder of the floors were let, with the hope that the children would one day occupy them. In 1913 Moriz Gallia (1858 - 1918) commissioned Hoffmann to design five rooms for the family's new apartment ? the hall, the salon, the smoking room, the dining room and the boudoir. Hoffmann's designs included the furniture, both built-in and free-standing, the plasterwork, the woodwork, light fittings, wall coverings and floor coverings. He also supervised the making of all aspects of his designs by specially selected craftspeople. When Hoffmann undertook work on the Gallia apartment he was already a well-known designer, having completed commissions for both the Purkersdorf Sanatorium in Vienna and the Palais Stoclet in Brussels. The Gallia family members were frequent entertainers, well known in music and artistic circles for their musical recitals and soirees. Their apartment became famous in Vienna and also featured in interior design journals of the time. The Gallia family lived in the apartment for 23 years. Moriz Gallia died in 1918 and by the time Hermine died in 1936 the children had all moved into their own apartments, in different parts of Vienna. The contents of the Hoffmann rooms were divided between them. Although Moritz had converted to Christianity in 1910, after having their toddlers baptized catholic earlier, before the second World War, like many Jewish families, the Gallias fled Austria in the face of increasingly strident State-sponsored anti-semitism. They emigrated to Australia, taking their furniture and paintings with them. The furniture was eventually acquired by the National gallery of Victoria. The Gustav Klimt portrait of Hermine Gallia was purchased by the National Gallery in London and the Ferdinand Andri portrait of the Gallia children by the NGV. The present chair, an estray from the original setting, was part of the suite of furniture for the hall of the Gallia apartment. It was made from ebonised (black-stained) wood. The darkness of the wood, the solid, square design, and the vertical fluting reminiscent of classical pillars, gave the furnitur