Dagobert Peche and the Wiener Werkstatte

by Peter Noever

"With contributions by Hanna Egger, Gabriele Fabiankowitsch, Rainald Franz, Waltraud Neuwirth and Nina Claudia Trauth, Sabine Plakolm-Forsthuber, Ernst Ploil, Anne-Katrin Rossberg, August Ruhs, Nikolaus Schaffer, Elisabeth Schmuttermeier, Nancy J. Troy, Angela Volker, and Christian Witt-Doring.". "Dagobert Peche (1887-1923) was one of the key figures of the Austrian arts and crafts movement. Along with Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, Peche determined the character of the Wiener Werkstatte with his designs. Hoffmann, who first hired Peche as his assistant but was later strongly influenced by him, wrote after Peche's death in 1923: "Dagobert Peche was Austria's greatest genius in ornamentation since the days of the Baroque...All of Germany has experienced a new stylistic epoch thanks to Peche's designs." The contribution made by Peche to decorative arts is now being given the critical attention it deserves, especially against the backdrop of postmodernism. Peche's extravagant use of ma