Rago Auctions

Vienna's Werkstätte Hagenauer was a multi-generational family business that began in 1898 and produced impressive, handcrafted decorative objects and sculptural works in metal and wood for almost ninety years. Founder Carl Hagenauer trained at silverware firm Würbel & Czokally and as a goldsmith before starting his own company. In the early years of Werkstätte Hagenauer, the shop produced designs by Carl Hagenauer himself as well as those by leading members of the Vienna Secession, such as Josef Hoffmann and Otto Pruscher. Along with tableware, silverware, vases, bowls, candelabra, and other functional forms, Werkstätte Hagenauer became well-known for human and animal artworks that ranged from figurines to sculptures.

Carl Hagenauer's sons Karl Hagenauer (pictured) and Franz Hagenauer both became celebrated designers for Werkstätte Hagenauer. The elder Karl studied at the Vienna School of Applied Arts and trained with Josef Hoffmann and Oskar Strnad. After serving as an infantryman during World War I, Karl returned to assume a role at Werkstätte Hagenauer focused on leading the company's design and management efforts. While Karl was steeped in the aesthetics of the Vienna Secession, he was also attuned to changing public tastes in Europe and America. Incorporating elements of Pablo Picasso's early Cubist style and aspects of traditional African art, Karl Hageneauer was adept at making fanciful Art Deco creatures in brass as well as more practical items like bookends, corkscrews, and lamp bases. Karl's larger sculptures and hood ornaments likewise received wide acclaim. In particular, his stylized dancer sculpture of Josephine Baker drew rave reviews. Karl also developed the Werkstätte Hagenauer's encircled "wHw" trademark, which became commonplace in 1928 (the year that Carl Hagenauer died and Karl took charge of the firm). Throughout the 1920s, Richard Rohac also worked for Werkstätte Hagenauer, designing various striking items in brass and other materials before launching his own shop in 1932.

In the 1930s, Karl Hagenauer's designs became more popular in America thanks to New York gallery owner Rena Rosenthal. She featured Karl's Josephine Baker sculpture in a 1935 window display, creating an instant marketing phenomenon. Karl visited the gallery twice subsequently and added a custom "RENA" mark to merchandise on offer. Eventually, designs by Karl Hagenauer were so coveted that counterfeiters rose up to meet the demand. Following World War II, Werkstätte Hagenauer shifted its focus for several years toward making necessary metal objects and furniture to aid in rebuilding programs. In collaboration with architect Julius Jirasek, Werkstätte Hagenauer had already begun to make furniture before the war.

As the 1950s began, the firm once again emphasized decorative objects. Franz Hagenauer took on a more prominent role increasingly and assumed control of the Werkstätte Hagenauer when Karl died in 1956. Whereas Karl excelled at designing everyday items and smaller figural works, Franz's strength lay firmly in sculpture with sheet metal and wood. He had trained with Franz Cižek at Vienna's School of Applied Arts. Franz would eventually teach metalwork and metal design at the Academy of Applied Arts. He was also responsible for bringing in his former student, Karl Schmidt, who managed the workshop and the company during its later phase, up through 1987, a year after Franz Hagenauer passed away. Although Werkstätte Hagenauer officially closed for business in 1987, its retail location, which had opened in 1938 in downtown Vienna on the Opernring, was converted into a still-active museum and shop. Today works by Werkstätte Hagenauer are held by various notable institutions and continue to be highly sought after by collectors.