Otto Schönthal, a leading architect of the Vienna Secessionist period, was one of the star architectural pupils of Otto Wagner’s ‘special class’ at the Akademie in Vienna. Schönthal worked in Wagner’s Atelier from around 1900 and in 1909 set up a group practice with two fellow students from the Wagner ‘special class’, Emil Hoppe and Marcel Kammerer. Their work during this period was daringly modern in the Jungendstil mode but demonstrated respect for historical styles and made a significant contribution to the architecture and design of the Viennese Secessionist period. Their output ranged from large-scale architectural projects and monuments, to private villas and also included graphic and decorative design work. A distinctive aspect of their practice was their development of a highly refined approach to both working design drawings and presentation drawings.

Schönthal produced a small series of designs using female heads in profile and encircled by a decorative border. The inscription suggests that this was a poster or invitation design for an event in Vienna, which has yet to be identified with certainty. The date is difficult to decipher but has previously been recorded as 1900. However, the inscription proclaims the ‘Kaiserjubilaumsfest’ and further research is needed to clarify if this in fact refers to Franz Joseph I of Austria’s Jubilee of 1908. The design itself is a strong example of Schönthal’s Jungendstil aesthetic with its stylised floral elements and Klimt-like rendering of the female head with flowing hair. In its combination of figurative and decorative design this little sheet is a microcosm of Viennese Secession style of the period.

purchased from the artist's sale of 'Hoppe, Kammerer, Schönthal studio material' by Heinrich 'Harry' Fischer, late 1950s; by descent to Wolfgang Fischer; purchased from him by Paul Asenbaum and Niall Hobhouse, 2013; their gift to The Courtauld, 2013

Whyte, Iain Boyd, Emil Hoppe, Marcel Kammerer, Otto Schönthal: three architects from the master class of Otto Wagner, Ernst and Sohn, Berlin 1989
no. 38 on p. 217

Watermark: Watermark: n/a.

Inscription: Recto: within the drawing, lower centre, diluted gold paint over graphite: “V. OESTERREICH CHESRUSDESU.[?] / KAISERJUBILAUMSFEST= / SCHIESSEN WIEN JUNI JULI 98”. Verso: lower left corner, graphite: “W 21” and encircled “101”. Mount, Recto of back cover: lower right edge, graphite: “W21” and “101”. Mount, Verso of back cover: right upper edge, graphite: “50 / 60”. Folder, Recto of front cover: upper right corner, graphite: written twice, encircled, once upside down: “38”; erased and now difficult to read: “LCM”[?] and “E010 1200-”.

Collector's mark: none.