?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 8,000 - $ 12,000
JOSEPH MARIA OLBRICH (1867-1908) DARMSTADT. 1901. 32 1/2x18 3/4 inches, 82 1/2x47 1/2 cm. Hofdruckerei H. Hohmann, Darmstadt. Condition B+ / B: minor restoration along vertical and horizontal folds; repaired tears in image; restoration in lettering at bottom. Framed. Olbrich was an architect and graphic designer. In 1897 he was a founding member of The Viennese Secession movement, for whom he designed their signature exhibition hall and two posters for the group's second and third exhibitions. In 1899, he and Peter Behrens were called upon by the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig von Hesse to embark upon a project intended to revolutionize the German art world: They were charged with building and running an artistic colony in the city of Darmstadt. Olbrich designed the main structure with a huge central studio that was opened to the artistic community in 1901. For the group's first exhibition, he designed this poster, which proudly features his building in the center. Stylistically the poster is quite similar to the one Olbrich designed for the Vienna Secession in 1898, in which his building also appeared prominently in the center of the image. Here he uses a wider perspective to show the huge scale of the building. The decorative ornaments such as the paving stones, the stylized shrubbery and the typography are all masterpieces of Secessionist style and design. The piece is both extremely rare and historically important. Secession no. 11, DFP-II 2431, Wember 630.
