Happy Easter (Frohe Ostern)
Medium
Color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 1/2 × 3 9/16 in. (14 × 9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Museum Accession, transferred from the Library
Accession Number
WW.145
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
Created in 1908 by artist Urban Janke for the Wiener Werkstätte, *Happy Easter (Frohe Ostern)* is a charming color lithograph that captures the spirit of early twentieth-century Viennese design. The Wiener Werkstätte, founded in 1903, was a pioneering collective dedicated to elevating everyday objects through fine craftsmanship and modern aesthetics, bridging fine art and applied design in the spirit of the Vienna Secession movement. Measuring just 5½ by 3⅞ inches, this small print was likely intended as a greeting card or postcard. Its cheerful imagery of rabbits, rendered in vibrant colors through the lithographic process, reflects the Werkstätte’s commitment to accessible, high-quality graphic art. Lithography allowed artists to produce colorful, reproducible designs that brought artistic beauty into daily correspondence. Today housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Department of Drawings and Prints, the work exemplifies how the Wiener Werkstätte transformed seasonal traditions into stylish expressions of modernity, making art a delightful part of life’s simple celebrations.
About the Artist
Urban Janke|Wiener Werkstätte (Austrian| ) · 1887 | –1914 |
Austrian, Blottendorf/Vienna, 1887–1914|