On the occasion of his 150th birthday, the exhibition JOSEF HOFFMANN: Progress Through Beauty comprehensively documents for the first time the entire oeuvre of the architect, designer, teacher, and exhibition organizer Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956), one of the luminaries of Viennese Modernism and the international life reform movement. With his indefatigable design work and teaching, Hoffmann cultivated an exemplary model of modern lifestyles based on a construction and product culture that was both shaped by craft and artistically ambitious. The show presents a cross section of Hoffmann's revolutionary design and his most important buildings, including the Stoclet House in Brussels (1905-1911) and the Purkersdorf Sanatorium (1904-1905).

This coming Sunday, March 27th, the Museum will be holding an "Art on Sunday" day, with a range of programming related to the exhibition. The installation has been opened since February 5th, but because of COVID protocols the opening celebrations could not be held until now.

The exhibition is presenting the work that made Alphonse Mucha famous: posters and illustrations, and decorative art designs, all set against the vibrant background of fin-de-siècle Paris. Late nineteenth-century costumes recall the Parisians strolling along the boulevards, and colourful glass from the same period by Émile Gallé and Moser & Sohne show the close relationship between Mucha's work and Art Nouveau. The exhibition also considers the rediscovery of Mucha's work in the 1960s, and how his style resonated in popular culture, flower power and Woodstock, as illustrated in the designs for albums covers and concert posters for bands like Martha & The Vandellas, The Rollings Stones and Pink Floyd. Kunstmuseum Den Haag will show the circumstances in which Alphonse Mucha became, and remains, world-famous.

The exhibition creates an opulent tableau that offers uniquely rich and complex insights into the fascination of Vienna circa 1900 and the atmosphere of this vibrant period. Comprising some 1,300 items displayed across three floors, this semi-permanent installation presents the splendour and wealth of the artistic and intellectual achievements of this era through masterpieces from the Leopold Museum and notable permanent loan works from Austrian and international collections.