Universal Artist between Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann
MAK, Vienna, 19 December 2018 – 22 April 2019

Photos: MAK

Koloman Moser’s oeuvre continues to exert a lasting fascination. As a universal artist Moser masters the disciplines of painting, graphic art, arts and crafts, and interior design as well as fashion and scenography. To an impressive extent Moser embodies the Gesamtkunstwerk or total work of art as advocated by the Vienna Secession. He is considered one of the most important pioneers of Viennese Modernism, one of the most influential artists of Viennese Art Nouveau, and is—alongside Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffmann—one of the leading artists of Vienna’s artistic renewal.
To commemorate the centennial of his death, the MAK is honoring Koloman Moser (1868–1918) with one of the most comprehensive solo shows to date on his great and visionary work. The exhibition delves deep into the oeuvre of this exceptional artist and demonstrates just how instrumental Moser was in influencing the search for a new, modern design vocabulary in fin-de-siècle Vienna. This is the first time that many of the 500 or so exhibits, largely taken from the MAK Collection, have been made accessible to the public. Structured chronologically and divided into five chapters, the MAK exhibition recalls every step of Moser’s unusual career: from painter to all-round designer and finally back to painting.