The design legend Josef Hoffmann called Dagobert Peche (1887-1923) an “ornamental genius.” Find out why in the PECHE POP exhibition at the MAK.
- Enjoy Peche’s creative brilliance
- Furniture, jewelry, fabric patterns etc.
- Dialogue with contemporary designs reveals his ongoing influence
- Around 700 objects
- Runs Dec 11, 2024 – May 11, 2025
- Buy MAK museum tickets*
- See also:
Peche Pop
(Dagobert Peche, salon cabinet, 1913; execution: Jakob Soulek; pearwood, stained black; limewood, carved, gilt; MAK H 2814; press photo © MAK)
When it comes to descriptions, the designer Dagobert Peche has had a few as flowery as his wallpaper patterns. I often seem him titled as the enfant terrible of the Wiener Moderne, for example.
Peche’s designs across the roughly ten-year period he was active drew inspiration from nature and mythology. He enjoyed experimentation and revelled in adding a complexity and opulence that often defied the expectations and norms of the time. A touch quixotic, eccentric and capricious, perhaps.
The PECHE POP exhibition at the MAK gives us the chance to see for ourselves why Peche continues to inspire designers over 100 years after his all-too-early death in 1923.
Our enfant terrible originally trained as an architect but the closest he came to architecture was designing exhibition displays and interiors.
(View of part of the exhibition; press photo © MAK/Christian Mendez)
Instead, Peche turned his eye to broader design. And, like many of the great creative geniuses, he filtered various influences through his own experiences and vision to produce something new.
Peche also proved a multitalent who worked with a range of materials and a variety of objects: furniture, jewelry, household items, fabrics and more. All of which we get to see in the MAK’s exhibition.
PECHE POP presents the works thematically with such section titles as “Boudoir” or “Uncanny”, which already tell you that this was no ordinary designer.
The displays reveal that unique ability to bring something joyous and/or something artistic to the mundane. A playfulness seems to flow through many works.
(Dagobert Peche, desk for Eduard Ast, 1922; execution: Johann Jonasch; walnut, solid and veneered on softwood: loan from Ernst Ploil; press photo © MAK/Georg Mayer)
Alongside Peche’s designs, you also find juxtaposed works by around 30 contemporary designers in acknowledgement of his lasting influence.
Much as you can enjoy the actual designs, a number of intriguing photos also offer a window into times past.
For example: inside the Zürich branch of the Wiener Werkstätte from 1917. Peche was the local manager and designed the interior (one of the chest of drawers is on display nearby).
Rather poignantly, you also see photos of Peche’s apartment on his return to Vienna. Viewing the appalling living conditions of a man of his stature, you realise the state the city found itself in after World War I. And understand the need for the famous social housing programme.
Dates, tickets & tips
Dive into Peche’s magical world of design from December 11th, 2024 to May 11th, 2025. An entrance ticket for or from the MAK includes access to this special exhibition.
(Booking service provided by Tiqets.com*, who I am an affiliate of)
As Vienna’s museum of applied arts, the wider MAK is, of course, full of design inspiration. But I would urge you particularly to visit:
- The AUT NOW special exhibition, which features the best of modern Austrian design and runs throughout PECHE POP
- The MAK’s Vienna 1900 permanent exhibition, which focuses on the designs, arts and crafts of the era of Viennese Modernism and the work of the Wiener Werkstätte (who, as noted above, also put Peche’s talents to work)
How to get to the MAK
Just follow the advice at the bottom of the main MAK article. The museum is easy to reach on foot from the centre of town or by subway and tram (Stubentor station is outside with its U3 subway and tram line 2 stop).
Address: Stubenring 5, 1010 Vienna