Design: Hans Harald Rath, 1966
© J. & L. Lobmeyr
Grand vase, design: Hermann Herdtle, 1877; Vase, design: Michael Powolny, 1918
© Leonhard Hilzensauer/MAK
J. & L. Lobmeyr is without doubt an institution, not only in Vienna. Anyone who, gifted with a little imagination, strolls through the rooms of the flagship store at Kärntner Straße 26 today could easily encounter one or another figure from times gone by in their imagination. Whether from the k. u. k. Double Monarchy or Viennese Modernism, whether aristocratic or bourgeois ladies, court councillors, section heads or other personnel, as Altenberg, Doderer, Musil or Polgar so wonderfully drew them in their stories.
In 1860 Lobmeyr became a court glassware dealer, supplying crystal chandeliers for the Hofburg, Schloss Schönbrunn and the bayrische royal palaces. Born in 1829, Ludwig Lobmeyr was himself an enthusiastic patron of the arts and collector, acquainted with artists and scientists alike. Under his leadership, the company collaborated with Thomas Alva Edison to equip the Redoutensäle with the world’s first electric chandeliers in 1882. Ludwig was appointed to the upper house of parliament by Emperor Franz Joseph I in 1887 and became an honorary citizen of the city of Vienna in 1889. He turned down the offer to apply for the peerage. The many connections to the bohemian glass industry also make the glass trading house an example of economic internationalisation during the 19th century.
The MAK and J. & L. Lobmeyr also look back on a long shared history. Since the founding of the museum and the idea of contributing to the interaction of art and industry, there has been an intensive connection with the glass publisher. Through cooperation with renowned designers, Lobmeyr has repeatedly succeeded in creating a contemporary interpretation of glass. On the occasion of the anniversary, the MAK is now looking back on 200 years of Lobmeyr from 7 June to 24 September with the exhibition “Glitz und Glamour. 200 Years of Lobmeyr”, the MAK is now looking back on the often style-defining products of the traditional glass manufacturer. With the help of more than 300 objects, an arc is drawn from the forms of historicism and orientalism of the 19th century to classics such as the services and objects designed by Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, Oswald Haerdtl or Stefan Rath, which are still in production today.
The exhibits selected by guest curator Alice Stori Liechtenstein do not follow a chronological order, but are, according to the announcement, “‘intuitively’ grouped and ordered, with a targeted mix of styles, processing techniques, material innovations and designers”. The show also includes installations and objects created in the Lobmeyr workshops as part of a cooperation with the “Vienna Design Week”. Also on display is a group of goblets with intricate engravings designed by the artist Nives Widauer on the occasion of the Lobmeyr anniversary.
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