Rudolf Lorenz Center Table for Lorenz Mobel, Circa 1920, Austria

DESCRIPTION: Rudolf Lorenz Center Table for Lorenz Mobel, Circa 1920, Austria
Vienna Secession Center Table by Rudolf Lorenz for Lorenz Mobel.
Ebonized wooden table with nickel-plated brass details and a four-sided frieze.

CONDITION: Good condition. Wear consistent with age and use.

DIMENSIONS: Height: 78cm (31in) Width: 119.5cm (47in) Depth: 84cm (33in)

ABOUT THE DESIGNER: Rudolf Lorenz was a Austrian furniture designer and active member of the Austrian “Vienne Secession” Movement. In 1919 Lorenz, with Samuel Goldfarb and Oskar Reiche created the “Lorenz Model” furniture company. This company remained active until 1938 when it was irradiated by the Austrian Nazi Group.

ABOUT THE STYLE: “To every age its art, to every art its freedom.” The quote above is written above the door of the Secession Building, designed by Joseph Olbrich in Vienna in 1897. The building, purpose-built to hold exhibitions of the ‘new arts’ of modernity, was designed as a sort of visual manifesto of the Secession artists. It was a symbol of modern ideas, aesthetic principles and creativity. A group of artists had made a decisive break from the traditional fine arts and its institutions in Vienna. The two most dominant of which were the Akademie de bildende Kunste (the Academy of Fine Arts) and the Kunstlerhaus Genessenschaft – a private exhibiting society founded in 1861. Similarly to London, Paris, Rome and other artistic centres in Europe, the artistic world had become restrictive and continued to favour the academic painting and naturalism of the past. In consequence, new arts were often rejected by the exhibitors in favour of the old. The Secession Movement aimed to provide a space and forum for modern arts, and was hugely influential in its fleeting moment of impact. Possibly the most interesting characteristic of the Vienna Secession, as an artistic movement, was that it had no uniform artistic or aesthetic style. It was a cross pollination of ideas and its members sought inspiration from a multitude of sources, such as: the Arts and Crafts Movement of William Morris, folk art of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Japanese art, Impressionism, the Glasgow School (particularly Charles Renee Mackintosh), the French and Belgian Art Nouveau, and Byzantium. Additionally, some of the artists went on to be associated with developing movements such as Modernism and Expressionism. The Secessionists believed in the equality of all forms of arts and crafts and sought to unite both in the Gesamtkunstwerk – total work of art. They rejected the increased industrialisation of the nineteenth century, and promoted a return to craftsmanship and handwork.