Vase Hans Bolek Loetz Kristall außen Dunkelblau ca. 1915
Vase, Hans Bolek, Johann Loetz Witwe, etched decoration, for the Exhibition österreichisches Kunst- und Exportglas für Kunst und Industrie 1915
Description
Hans Bolek (1890 – 1978), a student of Josef Hoffmann at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, can be described as an absolutely exceptional talent.
Although he made a name for himself primarily as an architect and worked with Otto Prutscher in his architectural office, he was also active in furniture, jewelry and glass design. Bolek was one of the founding members of the Austrian Werkbund. Josef Hoffman’s
influence on Hans Bolek can be seen especially in his vase designs with etched decoration for the Johann Loetz Witwe company.
This decoration was etched out with hydrofluoric acid in several elaborate steps and testifies to the high level of craftsmanship of the Bohemian glassworks Johann Loetz Witwe. First, the workpiece is covered in several layers. A glass artist paints the areas with gum arabic that remain raised at the end and a craftsman then sinks the workpiece completely into the acid. This technique requires a great deal of experience and is therefore particularly dangerous and expensive in production.
ARTIST
Hans Bolek (Vienna 1890 – 1978 Vienna) was an Austrian architect and designer. Born in Vienna in 1890, he studied at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts with Josef Hoffmann from 1906 to 1910. At the same time, he was also an employee in the studio of Otto Prutscher. In 1910, Bolek became self-employed as an architect and in 1914 he was a founding member of the Austrian Werkbund. He provided designs for buildings and, as a versatile designer, created furniture, ceramics, glass and jewellery. After the Second World War, Bolek taught at the Vienna Fashion School from 1946 to 1962 and worked as a painter and graphic artist. Bolek died in Vienna in 1978.
Glass collectors know the name Bolek because of his glass designs for the company Johann Loetz Witwe. Between 1912 and 1917, Bolek created numerous designs for form and decoration for the Loetz glass manufacture, including vessels that were explicitly intended for presentation at the famous Werkbund exhibition in Cologne in 1914. These so-called “Werkbundgläser” are not only an impressive testimony of technical mastery, their modern decors also differ fundamentally from the Jugendstil décors of the “phenomenon genres” from the Loetz company.
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