Klimt Black Watch

Description

The lively geometric pattern on our Klimt Black Watch is based on a Gustav Klimt (Austrian, 1862–1918) printed textile in the Museum’s collection. In 1905, the Wiener Werkstätte began producing printed and woven textiles, many designed by artists such as Klimt. For nearly thirty years, the workshops produced refined and graphically striking designs, distinctive in their use of flat shapes and bold colors and often incorporating folk art, geometric and architectural motifs, and floral patterns.

Silver overlay case. Printed plastic band. Quartz movement. Band: adjusts from 5 7/8'' to 7 7/8''; Case: 1 1/4''L x 13/16''W.

Art History

Artist Gustav Klimt (Austrian, 1862–1918) was a leader of the Sezession (Secession), an association of artists founded in 1897 to challenge the prevailing academic conservatism prevalent in turn-of-the-century Vienna. Together with the architect- designer Josef Hoffmann and the artist-designer Koloman Moser, the group sought to promote contemporary culture and arts, blurring distinctions between fine and applied arts through their concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk - the cross-disciplinary “total work of art”. Furthering this approach, in 1903 Hoffmann founded the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshops), a designers’ cooperative based on the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement, which strove to provide a wide range of well- designed, often handmade products for a sophisticated audience. Their workshops could supply everything from an architectural framework to the smallest decorative accessory. The commercial success of the company was such that by the early 1920s they had shops in Paris, Zurich, and New York.