Highlights of applied art
The MAK Collection
The MAK Collection has been intercultural in its design since its inception 160 years ago, offering a unique opportunity to follow developments, in design for example, over the centuries, and through materials and cultures. From the beginning, the gathering of major works of applied art from all eras and with all materials was driven by high demand. Many of the holdings from the MAK’s collection areas—Design, Furniture and Woodwork, Contemporary Art, Asia, Library and Works on Paper Collection, Textiles and Carpets, Metal and Wiener Werkstätte Archive, and Glass and Ceramics—have been digitized and are now accessible online.
Main focal points of the MAK Collection
Created in 2005, the comparatively recent Design Collection represents a broad spectrum of contemporary design based on an expanded concept of design built around society, ecology, and technology. The collection, which is dedicated to design as an interface between the physical and the digital, includes objects and design strategies ranging from industrial series products to handicrafts and social design processes.
In addition to outstanding examples of Baroque and Rococo furniture art, the focus of the Furniture and Woodwork Collection is on Austrian—and especially Viennese—furniture from the Empire and Biedermeier periods, as well as Historicism and Art Nouveau. The collection spans from small carvings and delicate boxes to massive cabinets and entire interior furnishings, from conventional carpenter furniture to experiments in the fields of art, design, and architecture.
The Contemporary Art Collection presents important works by international contemporary artists with particular attention to experimental Austrian positions. Drawing, painting, photography, video, and film are all represented, as are sculpture, installation, and contributions to architecture.
The Asia Collection features a large selection of art and decorative arts from Asia. In addition to Chinese porcelain, the collection’s Japanese lacquer work, coloured woodcuts (Ukiyo-e) and dye stencils (Katagami) are of particular note. All these objects offer insight into the relationship between Europe and Asia that spans centuries.
The Library and Works on Paper Collection is the largest art library in Austria. In addition to the extensive book holdings, it contains ornamental engravings, templates, hand drawings, watercolors, and plans by artists and architects from the Renaissance to the present, along with a photo collection and a constantly growing collection of posters and commercial graphics.
The Textiles and Carpets Collection includes medieval fabrics, knotted carpets, lace, Biedermeier textiles, fabrics from around 1900 as well as a group of Coptic (i.e. of late antiquity) textiles, and more besides.
Besides cutlery, tableware, Renaissance jewelry and contemporary jewelry, the focus of the Metal Collection is on Viennese silver from the 19th and 20th centuries, metalwork from the Wiener Werkstätte, pewter vessels and so-called Galvanos, i.e. duplicates of fine metal objects.
The Wiener Werkstätte Archive consists of design drawings, fabric samples and photographs of the Wiener Werkstätte. Moreover, the MAK houses the largest collection of objects from the Wiener Werkstätte in a museum, covering their entire creative period. The individual objects are assigned to the corresponding parts of the MAK Collection beyond the Wiener Werkstätte Archive, depending on the material concerned.
The Ceramics Collection contains the estate of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory, as well as an extensive collection of tiled stoves, pottery, and majolica from the 16th to 19th centuries.
The development of stained glass from the 15th to the 19th century and of hollow glass from the 16th century to the present day can be traced from objects of the Glass Collection. The inventory of Art Nouveau glasses from Austria is of international importance, while the MAK also houses the largest museum collection of glass objects made by the J. & L. Lobmeyr company to be found outside the factory.
Selection of objects
Some objects deserve special mention due to their elaborate digitization.
One of the most valuable examples of the Furniture Collection is the art cabinet made by David Roentgen in Neuwied am Rhein in 1776. This piece of furniture has a complex interior that can be experienced digitally via an animated 3D model.
A doll house from the end of the 19th century represents in miniature form an upper-class salon. The “salon en miniature” was commissioned by Gabriele Przibram in 1893. The body and furnishings were 3D-scanned and can be viewed as an interactive model.
Other highlights include several items of clothing and carpets that can be viewed as 3D models from all sides, too. Among these are a Chinese dragon robe from the 2nd half of the 18th century and the famous Viennese hunting carpet, which was created in Kashan (Iran) in the first half of the 16th century.
The most valuable art works from the Wiener Werkstätte include an early tea service by Josef Hoffmann, an honorary gift designed by Dagobert Peche for Josef Hoffmann’s 50th birthday, a display casket and a writing cabinet, both designed by Koloman Moser for the Waerndorfer family.
Another highlight is Gustav Klimt’s nine-part working drawing of the mosaic frieze in the dining room of the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, designed by Josef Hoffmann.
In 2015, the MAK became the first museum to purchase a work of art with bitcoins. The screen saver Event Listeners by Harm van den Dorpel can now be viewed as a moving image.