EMIL RANZENHOFER (1864-1930) CAFÉ LURION. 1903. 49 1/4x36 1/4 inches, 125x92 cm. J. Weiner, Vienna. Condition B+: minor restored losses at edges; repaired tears, creases and abrasions in margins and along vertical and horizontal folds; ink notation on verso in lower right corner, showing through. Opened in Vienna on the 25th of December, 1903, the Café Lurion was a sensation in a city renowned for her cafes. Elegantly designed, the venue was filled with paintings and sculptures by Viennese artists, a game room, an American Bar, a bowling alley, a winter garden and more. The local newspaper, Neue Wiener Tagblatt, opined on the opening, "Vienna has many beautiful coffee houses, but we will offend no one when we say 'Cafe Lurion has struck an unsurpassed chord'" (Tagebuch p 94). Ranzenhofer, who studied at the Vienna Academy, was one of the first artists to specialize in commercial advertising in Austria, and as such contributed greatly to the popularization of Jugenstil. Denscher p. 130, Tagebuch 77.
