Otto Wytrlik, set of four chairs, designed 1901

Otto Wytrlik, set of four chairs, designed 1901
American walnut, American walnut-veneered wood, leather upholstery with brass nail heads.
Each: 37 x 17.5 x 19.5 in. (94 x 45 x 50 cm)
Seat height: 19 in. (47 cm)
Produced by Josef Wytrlik, Vienna, or August Ungethüm, Kunst-Möbel-Fabrik, Vienna.

Vera J. Behal, Möbel des Jugendstils. Sammlung des Österreichischen Museums für angewandte Kunst, München, 1981, pp. 266, 270, 338-29

Otto Wytrlik (1870-1955) was an Austrian architect and furniture designer. His father, Josef Wytrlik, and brother, Franz Wytrlik, were both carpenters. Following his education at the Wiener Kunstgewerbeschule, from 1899 to 1902 he studied architecture under Otto Wagner at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna.

During this time, Josef Wytrlik’s company submitted a design by Otto Wytrlik for a dining room to the 1902 competition held by the Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie, which called for a dining room for a middle class family of six. If awarded a prize, the applicant had to commit to making at least 50 pieces within a year at the price of 600-700 crowns. The deadline was December 31, 1901. The jury included Otto Wagner, Ludwig Baumann, furniture manufacturer Anton Fix, cabinetmaker Ignaz Reschenhofer and sculptor Rudolf Weyr. The Wytrlik submission won second prize, and was subsequently awarded the gold medal at the first International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Turin in 1902, where Austria staged its presentations in its own pavilion and villa.

In meeting the requirements of the Austrian Museum’s competition, the first group of chairs were produced by Josef Wytrlik’s workshop, and marketed by Portois & Fix. They were later produced by August Ungethüm, Kunst-Möbel-Fabrik in Vienna, circa 1905.

The chairs retain their original leather seats. All four chairs display a consistent patina of age and use, and subtle variation in the color of the seats from brown to green.