ALEXANDRA SMETANA — CLAUDIA KAROLYI

III. Unknown bookplates and bookplate designs by Josef Hoffmann
for Otto and Mäda Primavesi

The bookplate designs for the Primavesis that have now become known will be presented in a selection, arranged in groups by motif. Their presentation is only possible because the descendants of the family very generously have made the existing material as well as photos and letters available to us.⁹³ For this and for the willingness to clarify open questions concerning the family history in an interview we express our deeply felt gratitude to them.

Altogether they comprise 31 pencil and ink drawings on squared paper stuck into a 28 x 20,5 cm booklet whose pages⁹⁴ and cover⁹⁵ consist of fancy papers of the Wiener Werkstätte The design of the paper of the cover corresponds with a cloth pattern designed by Maria Likarz.⁹⁶ It can be assumed that Mäda Primavesi herself stitched the twelve page booklet with string and stuck Hoffmann’s cut sketches as well as a woodcut into it. Obviously with the sequence she above all had a decorative arrangement in mind, for not always are all drawings belonging to one motif sticking together. (vgl. fig. 6). 
 

fig. 6: Doppelseite aus dem Heft mit eingeklebten Exlibrisentwürfen von Josef Hoffman (Foto: Ingrid Oentrich, ÖNB)

The largest number of sketches , 9 altogether, show a burning building. They vary only in the size of the motif, the borders and the form of the script  (vgl. fig. 7-10).

The distinctive architecture allows no doubt that the house in question is the burning country house of the family in Winkelsdorf. With bookplates which are stuck into books as marks of ownership usually a large variety of motifs are common, many of them primarily focussing on something noncommittally decorative. The options range from book to plants, animals, the motif of woman etc. Architecture, too, is occasionally requested as décor – be it the owner’s house or his hometown. It is very remarkable, however, that a tragic event from the owner’s life, in this case the burning down of the country house in 1922, is represented. Therefore the following digression shall deal with the significance of the house for the Primavesi family and for Josef Hoffmann, who was not only the designer but also the architect of the house.
 

fig. 7: J.Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Bleistift auf Papier (51x46 mm)	fig. 8: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Bleistift auf Papier (51 x 46 mm)
fig. 9: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Tusche auf Papier (55 x 51 mm)	fig. 10: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Tusche auf Papier (30 x 40 mm)

Disgression
The country house of the Primavesi family in Winkelsdorf⁹⁷

Winkelsdorf (Koutny) is situated in a particularly scenic valley of the Tess (Desná) in the middle of the Altvater(Praděd-) Mountains. The family had acquired a southeast hillside here on top of which Josef Hoffmann in 1913/14 built the country house (conf. fig. 11 and 12).

The actual villa was situated amidst spacious gardens and was supplemented by several outbuildings and garden areas – pleasure pavilion⁹⁸, garage, stables, ice-cellar, barn, house for the turbines, pool, sun-baths, tennis court.

fig. 11: Landhaus Primavesi, Ansicht der Vorderseite. Der verglaste Wandelgang, der das Hauptgebäude mit dem südwestlich gelegenen Lusthaus verbindet, ist noch nicht fertiggestellt.	fig. 12: Landhaus Primavesi, Ansicht der Rückseite

As Eduard F. Seckler points out, upon Hanak’s recommendations and the housewife’s wish, for the interior as well as the exterior the Moravian popular tradition should serve as example.⁹⁹ Following the ideals of the native style movement¹⁰⁰, materials and architectural forms of the area were used. There was a base of quarry-stone masonry upon which there was a wooden construction in log-house building style.¹⁰¹ The building was structured by a protruding middle portico whose pillars were of oak wood. The roof, too, based on native examples, was a projecting hip roof out of straw. The layers of the log building alternately consisted of beams left naturally or ebonised which brought about the characteristic stripe pattern of the walls of the house which also can be recognized in the schematic presentation of the architecture on the designs and particularly on the bookplate printed later.

On the ground floor there was the main room of the house, the great hall with the preceding loggia and the dining room adjoining behind it which was not separated by a wall. These rooms occupied the complete middle part of the house. Furthermore, on the ground floor there were guest rooms, the kitchen and rooms for the staff. From the hall a staircase led to the upper floor with the rooms meant for the children (bedroom, dayroom, children’s summer-house) and the parents’ bedrooms. On the attic there were further guestrooms.

In spite of the folkloristic demands that were met with the building materials, the ground-plan followed completely the pattern for building villas or castles. Thus the ennobling forms of the protruding middle portico, the colossal arrangement and the pillar front are used that are quite in line with Hoffmann’s classicist building style of these years.¹⁰²

The interior decoration, too, was influenced by the North Moravian folk art which, however, was not just copied but determined the basic tone of the rooms. Thus there were throughout coloured painted decorations of carved wood, painted furniture and wall panels, hand printed textiles from the Wiener Werkstätte, and in the hall a large tiled stove, decorated with figures, by Hanak (cf. fig. 13). However, Winkelsdorf – as Sekler remarks – is not only folkloristic art, but also to some extent expressionism: the many teeth of all the lozenges, diagonal cuttings and stars that can be found are sufficient formal proof of it.¹⁰³ The décor of the dining-room, for instance, is based on the lozenge motif – which is found in the structuring of the wall, in the rungs of the sideboard and in the carvings of the chairs (cf. fig. 14).

Architecture and decoration of the building are reviewed in the important contemporary architecture journals.¹⁰⁴ The house was almost seen as a sight. So remembrances of the children, handed down in the family, state that there always were strangers who wanted to see the house, and they therefore had to clear up their rooms.

The strong contrasts of colour and form and the uneven patterns in the rooms, however, did not always meet with the unanimous approval of the family members or guests. Thus, the daughter Mäda remembers that occasionally she had to leave her room, which was decorated with a blue lozenge pattern, because she needed a calmer surroundings which she then found in the woodshed.¹⁰⁵

fig. 13: Landhaus Primavesi Halle	fig. 14: Landhaus Primavesi, Speisezimmer (Otto Primavesi ganz links; Mäda Primavesi ganz rechts)

The atmosphere in the house was marked by great hospitality and social life. Again and again the Viennese artist friends were invited, and particularly Gustav Klimt, Anton Hanak and Josef Hoffmann liked to comply (cf. fig. 15). A photo album, preserved in the family, provides an insight into the events during a stay in winter 1920. It contains snapshots of theatre performances, oriental feasts, music evenings, and sledge-rides. In his autobiography Josef Hoffman reports of a stay in summer: it was a joyous life with walks, open-air bathing and sunbathing, little car excursions, improvised festivities, and many nice evenings at which Hanak sang magnificent songs to his lute which we enjoyed devoutly.¹⁰⁶

The stay went quite informally; at dinner the guests did not wear formal dress but gowns from the Wiener Werkstätte, especially designed for this purpose¹⁰⁷. One highlight were the so-called piggy-feasts in the basement of the house (“Piggy-Hall”)¹⁰⁸ at which the hearty Moravian cuisine was very popular (cf. fig. 16). In a letter of 21 December 1919 Mäda Primavesi writes to Josef Hoffmann: I hope you will relax very well here, then, if only you will stay long enough with me. It’s snowing all the time, at 10 cold, you shall find a good sledge run. Lola, Hedwig and Wolfgang baked an incredible lot, the larger pig has turned enormously fat and is awaiting your coming.¹⁰⁹

fig. 15: Landhaus Primavesi: Im Vordergrund stehend (von links): Anton Hanak, Gustav Klimt, Mäda Primavesi,  Otto Primavesi (rechts außen)	fig. 16: Landhaus Primavesi, Kellerraum

Mäda Primavesi, though, always had in mind that her family and friends during their stay were leading a healthy life. Josef Hoffmann reports: Officially you have to go to bed soon. Yet the company gathered in the downstairs rooms with the host, where there was high life with good wines and where Hanak’s wit and excited mood set the tone. Klimt, too, enjoyed this friendly round indefatigably, but unfortunately Frau Primavesi once had her suspicions and surprised us in the middle of these forbidden amusements, which had its consequences¹¹⁰.

Unfortunately these entertaining stays happened only a few years, for in 1922 a short circuit caused this devastating fire which – considering the easily inflammable building materials – destroyed the main building completely.¹¹¹

This fire, which was so tragic for the family, provides a basis for the dating of the sketches in the booklet, of which we can assume that they all were created at the same time. Hence, the designs must have been created after the fire of 1922, but before the Otto’s death in 1926. Since most of the designs are in the name of the married couple Primavesi, it can also be assumed that most of the plates originated before the separation of the couple, i.e. before 1925 – which leaves their origin at the time from 1923-1925.

Of the bookplate designs with the burning country house that were stuck into the booklet none actually was turned into an exlibris. In the sketches you look at the house frontally whereas the two printing-blocks that have been preserved and were cut in a positive and a negative cut show the burning building from below (cf. fig. 17 and 18). As no original prints from these blocks have been preserved, some prints were made for demonstration purposes with the permission of the family.¹¹² Contrary to the sketches, from the viewpoint diagonally below the fire appears far more dramatic (cf. fig. 19 and 20).

fig. 17: Druckstock im Positivschnitt Holz (47 x 65 mm)	fig. 18: Druckstock im Negativschnitt, Holz (46 x 61 mm)
fig. 19: Exlibris Mäda u. Otto Primavesi, Holzschnitt (42 x 58 mm)	fig. 20: Nachdruck Exlibris Mäda u. Otto Primavesi, Holzschnitt (39 x 55 mm)

fig. 21: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Bleistift auf Papier (20 x 46 mm)

fig. 22: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf Bleistift auf Papier (62 x 64 mm)	fig. 23: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf Bleistift auf Papier (42 x 57 mm)

Further bookplate designs in the booklet are typographical exlibris which are characterised by the fact that they practically solely consist of the text of the owner entry which is surrounded by a simple round or square frame. In four of these designs the individual words are arranged below each other, i.e. the direction of lines agrees with the usual way of reading from left to right. For variety, occasionally a little star or a tendril is added among the text (cf. fig. 21-23). Two further sketches use a more progressive typographical design: here, different directions of lines are used so that the space is covered with a framework of letters (cf. fig. 24).

One of these designs – slightly altered – was actually printed, with two blocks being used. The result now was a woodcut with the owner entry against a red-white background, rich in contrast. This exlibris, the only printed graphics, is stuck onto the first page of the booklet.¹¹³ (cf. colour fig. 25)

Apart from the owner entry other designs show motifs from the flora. One plate for Otto and Mäda Primavesi thus shows a grapevine towards a dark background (cf. fig. 26). In the booklet altogether five drafts for a plate for Otto Primavesi are stuck which show variations of a leaf as motif (cf. fig. 27-29). Two further sketches, also meant for Otto, show a flower on a zigzag ribbon. These designs – except for a little alteration in the script – were actually chosen to be printed and were in fact reproduced¹¹⁴ (cf. colour fig. 30).

The bookplate designs find their stylistic and formal equivalents in the rest of Hoffmann’s work. Thus, the exlibris design of the grapevine without the owner entry could also function as design for a piece of jewellery. In fact there is a brooch by Hoffmann of 1911/12 where the dark background of the bookplate, as it were, has been transferred into malachite on which you find a beaten silver grapevine¹¹⁵. Similarly to the exlibris designs, on a tea service of 1928, he scatters an occasional stylised little flower, grapevine, starlet or zigzag ribbon onto the smooth parts of the body of the teapot.¹¹⁶

A further design sketch in the booklet shows a female bust in profile, beside it a stylised lyre and in the background a temple, the whole surrounded by tendrils (cf. fig. 31). This constellation reminds of a mythological portrayal – possibly of a muse. Below this drawing another female figure can be seen. The nude figure portrayed as a whole is raising a blazing bowl. This bowl, then, is singled out and drawn twice again by Hoffmann. With the added initials of the Primavesis this motif can also be stuck into a book as a bookplate (cf. fig. 32). These drawings illustrate well the method of Hoffmann who first sketches an idea, from this singles out a detail which he then carries on to a new motif.

The last design for a bookplate that will be reviewed here shows the owner entry within an architectonic setting (cf. fig. 33). One could imagine the bookplate also as a miniature architecture, e.g. a monument. This way the text of the exlibris would correspond to the inscription on a profiled marble table which is carried by two channelled pillars and crowned by three gables. In a similar form Hoffmann designed a tomb.¹¹⁷ At the same time the same design, but on a different scale, could also have been created for a hall-press which could be seen in the 1913/14 exhibition Austrian Handicraft.¹¹⁸

fig. 24: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Bleistift auf Papier (67 x 58 mm)

fig. 25: J. Hoffmann, Exlibris Mäda und Otto Primavesi, Holzschnitt (79 x 50 mm)

fig. 26: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Tusche auf Papier (51 x 45 mm)

fig. 27: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Bleistift auf Papier (38 x 21 mm)	fig. 28: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Bleistift auf Papier (51 x 33 mm)

fig. 29 J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf Bleistift auf Papier (32 x 54 mm)	fig. 30 J. Hoffmann, Exlibris Mäda und Otto Primavesi; Holzschnitt (30 x 40 mm)

fig. 31: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Bleistift auf Papier (105 x 47 mm)	fig. 32: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Bleistift auf Papier (55 x 33 mm)	fig. 33: J. Hoffmann, Exlibrisentwurf, Bleistift auf Papier (59 x 42 mm)

Alexandra Smetana c/o ÖNB
Claudia Karolyi ÖNB
Alfred Slezak (Bildbearbeitung) ÖNB

Footnotes:

93. All photos shown are in the private ownership of Margareta and Götz Primavesi. We are also very grateful to our colleague Alfred Slezak, without whose committed and competent scanning work it would not have been possible to illustrate the article with such a large number of pictures.

94. The pages consist of golden, red, yellow, green and light blue colored paper.

95. On the inside of the cover there is the stamp of the Wiener Werkstätte: “Betriebges. m. b. H./ der WIENER WERKSTÄTTE/ Produktiv-Genossenschaft/ Gegenstände des Kunstgewerbes/ [...] Abteilung". (Society with limited liability of the Wiener Werkstätte/ Productive Cooperative/ handicraft items [...] department).

96. The pattern is reproduced in Schweiger: Wiener Werkstätte (s. ann. 22), 221.

97. The information on the building history is based on Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 127-13 and 360-362; Pavel Zatloukal: Vila Primavesi v Olomouci, Olomouc 1990 – cf. above all the maps and illustrations 41-51.

98. The summer house was connected with the main building by a glass lobby.

99. Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 129.

100. The term "Heimat" (home, native country) around the turn of the century was reactivated by the industrial society. In connection with artistic architectural tendencies, the term “native style” (ans later “home-protective style”) meant an attempt to put greater emphasis on regionalism in architecture. On this phenomenon cf. Géza Hajơs: Heimatstil -Heimatschutzstil, Österreichische Zeitschrift für Kunst und Denkmalpflege, Heft 3/4 (1989) 156-164; Andreas Lehne: Heimatstil – Zum Problem der Terminologie, ibid., 159-164.

101. A wooden church in log-house style has been erected in nearby Bad Groß Ullersdorf. Cf. Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 129.

102. Further buildings by Hoffmann on the climax of his classicist phase: Austria House at the Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne (1914), Villa Primavesi-Skywa, Wien, 13, Gloriettegasse 18 (1913-1915); cf. Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 121ff. 363ff. 365ff.

103. Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 132.

104. A compilation of literature on the “Landhaus” can be found in: Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 362.

105. Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 132. There, the singer Anton Slezak is also mentioned, who felt, It might well be a very pretty house, but I wouldn’t want to live in it.

106. Josef Hoffmann: Selbstbiographie (s. ann. 34),119.

107. Cf. Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 130 and Friedrich Grassegger, Wolfgang Krug (Hrsg.): Anton Hanak (s. ann. 39), 126

108. In the family the memory of this term has been preserved. This room had been planned for the sledges – i.e. for equipment for winter sports. In the basement there was also a skittle alley.

109. Letter by Mäda Primavesi to Josef Hoffmann of 21 Dec., 1919, private property of Margareta and Götz Primavesi.

110. Josef Hoffmann: Selbstbiographie (s. ann. 34), 119

111. Only the base remained on which from 1926 to 1930 the new building of a recreation home was erected, which still exists. Cf. Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 362 and Zatloukal: Vila Primavesi v Olomouci, Olomouc 1990 (s. ann. 97), 51

112. We sincerely thank the graphic artist Eric Neunteufel for making the reprints free of charge.

113. A further copy is found in the ÖNB collection of flyers, posters and bookplates. In this plate the black beams at the side have been cut off. The plate was kindly donated by Frau Margarethe Kuntner.

114. In the possession of the family there still are several prints of which they kindly donated three to the ÖNB collection of flyers, posters and bookplates.

115. A reproduction of the brooch is contained in: Gabriele Fahr-Becker: Wiener Werkstätte. Köln 1994, 176

116. A reproduction of the tea service is contained in Peter Noever, Oswald Oberhuber (Hrsg.): Josef Hoffmann. Ornament zwischen Hoffnung und Verbrechen, Wien 1987, 132.

117. The tomb of Bernactzik (1920) is reproduced in Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 385.

118. The press is reproduced in Sekler: Josef Hoffmann (s. ann. 13), 148.