MAK-Museum of applied Arts Vienna
With its rich and diverse collection of applied arts, the MAK is a center of expertise for Art Nouveau in Austria and Europe and one of the most important cultural institutions in this field. Founded in 1864 during the imperial era, the museum was situated at the heart of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and was conceived as a collection representing all parts of the empire.
Around 1900, Vienna became a melting pot of artistic and cultural innovation, with artists of the Vienna Secession acting as key driving forces behind a new modernity. The MAK, formerly k. k. Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie, followed the development of this movement from its very beginnings. While the museum’s first director, Rudolf von Eitelberger, was inspired by the English Arts and Crafts movement, Arthur von Scala—director from 1897 to 1909—opened the institution to modernism.
The museum was in close exchange and interaction with the affiliated Wiener Kunstgewerbeschule, its teachers, and its students. As teachers, the Secessionists Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, and Alfred Roller played a crucial role in disseminating the ideas and principles of this new artistic movement. They promoted the idea of the unity of the arts, adopted from England, and advocated the artistic integration of art into everyday life.
MAK holds a unique collection of Art Nouveau objects. Works by Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, Otto Wagner, Vally Wieselthier, Gudrun Baudisch and Adolf Loos reflect the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk across all MAK collections, illustrating the independent path from Historicism to Modernism and the development of the Austrian style.
