MAK showcases two centuries of illustrious glassware legacy by J. & L. Lobmeyr

Two centuries ago, Josef Lobmeyr Sr. founded a glassware company in Vienna’s Weihburggasse, which would play a historically significant role in the evolution of glass products. In about 12 years, the business would become Purveyor to the Imperial Court. They designed the first 'Hofburg set,' which was used in the Austrian state banquets for many years, and is now a museum piece post being replaced by another J. & L. Lobmeyr creation after a design by POLKA. Lobmeyr has also co-developed the first all-electric chandelier partnering with Thomas Edison. GLITZ AND GLAMOUR: 200 Years of Lobmeyr at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna, Austria, celebrates the journey, history, and evolution of J. & L. Lobmeyr spanning two centuries, and their contribution to glassware design.

MAK is more than just a venue for this exhibition—its connection with J. & L Lobmeyr dates back to the 19th century when the museum was founded. The museum’s first director, Rudolf von Eitelberger, was in close contact with Josef Lobmeyr’s son, Ludwig Lobmeyr. He pioneered the art glass industry of Historicism and was instrumental in the inception of the Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry (today’s MAK) and actively supported its vision. A reminder of this relationship between the institution, its collection of exemplars, and the manufacturer is embedded in the museum itself—a stone relief bears the portrait of Ludwig Lobmeyr on the MAK’s staircase. It is symbolic of the museum’s founding principle to support collaboration between art and industry by gathering a range of exemplars within one institution. This vibrant exchange contributed to the ingenuity of the glassmaking dynasty, which occupies a superior position in the world of glassware and glass art with its expertly executed and timelessly elegant glasses, chandeliers, and decorative objects.

GLITZ AND GLAMOUR: 200 Years of Lobmeyr is replete with over 300 objects by the renowned glassware manufacturer—the gamut encompasses objects from 19th-century Historicist and Orientalist forms to classics such as the sets and objects after designs by Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, Oswald Haerdtl, or Stefan Rath, which are still in production today. On view from June 7 to September 24, 2023, the design exhibition reflects the potential of glass as a material in engaging different aspects of life and aesthetically enriching them—from interior design to eating and drinking. The relationship between glass and light is conspicuous and yet overlooked. Lobmyer’s profound understanding of the interplay of light and shade has shaped the creations and products of the company. The designer of the exhibition, March Gut—an Austrian design firm—built on this aspect to create the optical appeal of the Lobmyer glass when it is held up to light, paying tribute to the glassmaking dynasty’s remarkable continuity in its attempt to integrate innovation with handicraft.

Alice Stori Liechtenstein, an independent Italian curator specialising in contemporary design, is the guest curator for the event. The exhibits selected by her are not displayed chronologically and are arranged rather ‘intuitively’ with an intentional mixture of styles, manufacturing techniques, material innovations, and designers. She explains the idea behind the nature of the display, “Some businesses constantly look to the future: they innovate and focus on delivering novelty and modernisation. In antithesis—and for a healthy balance—some businesses make it their duty to preserve the past and guard traditions. Very few businesses are like the Roman god Janus, able to see into the past with one face and into the future with the other. It is safe to say Lobmeyr—or better said, the family behind the company—can steer change and transitions, such as the progress of past to future, from one vision to another. To underline this unique characteristic of Lobmeyr, it was necessary, in the MAK exhibition GLITZ AND GLAMOUR: 200 Years of Lobmeyr, to avoid a chronological narrative and instead, create parallel narratives showing how past and traditions are inseparable from innovation and zeitgeist.”

Since the company’s inception, it has remained consistent with being the trendsetter for glassware designs. It has remained at the forefront of the same for two centuries because of its deep commitment to continually collaborating with renowned designers, which has helped it interpret glass in a way that has been keeping with the times. Another facet that Lobmyer shares with the museum is its proximity to the artistic designs of practical objects. It makes Lobmyer stands out with its facilitation and high-quality workmanship as such an intensive exchange between designers and a glassware manufacturer isn’t found anywhere else. It led Lobmyer to regularly produce timeless ‘classics’, which speak of their eras but do not become obsolete. The exhibition is a testament to L. & B. Lobmyer’s unyielding efforts to keep pushing the boundaries of glassware design and ensure that glass remains on the cutting edge as a material for creations of decorative art and design.

The 'GLITZ AND GLAMOUR: 200 Years of Lobmeyr' exhibition is on view from June 7 - September 24, 2023, at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna, Austria.