Teapot, with Sketch of Cup
1851 to 1875
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
graphite and watercolor on blue-lined paper
Dimensions
overall: 29.5 x 21 cm (11 5/8 x 8 1/4 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund
Accession Number
1971.41.35
Art Historical Context
Behold the delicate "Teapot, with of Cup," a preparatory drawing by Josef Hoffmann, visionary Austrian architect and designer (1870–1956). Created between 1851 and 1875, this intimate work captures Hoffmann's early explorations in functional design, featuring a graceful teapot rendered in graphite with subtle watercolor washes, accompanied by a faint sketch of a cup. 29.5 x 21 cm, it was executed on everyday blue-lined paper, hinting at the artist's spontaneous creative process amid his burgeoning career. Hoffmann, a pioneer of the Vienna Secession and co-founder of the Wiener Werkstätte, cha...
About the Artist
Josef Hoffmann
Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) was an Austrian architect and designer who stands as one of the pivotal figures of the Vienna Secession and the broader European Arts and Crafts movement. Born in Pirnitz (now Brtnice, in the Czech Republic), Hoffmann studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Otto Wagner, the theorist of modern architecture whose commitment to functional rationalism and honest ...