?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 15,000 - $ 20,000
JOSEPH MARIA OLBRICH (1867-1908) DARMSTADT. 1901. 33 3/8x19 5/8 inches. H. Hohmann, Darmstadt. Condition B+: sharp vertical and horizontal folds; minor restored losses in left and bottom margins; minor tears in margins. After studying art in Vienna, Olbrich became both an architect and graphic designer. In 1897 he was a founding member of The Viennese Secession movement, and actually designed their signature exhibition hall as well as 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. The main structure which Olbrich designed with a huge central studio, was opened to the artistic community in 1901. For the group's first exhibition, Olbrich also 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 for that group also prominently appeared 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.
