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Friedrich Waerndorfer, originally Wärndorfer (* May 5, 1868 in Vienna; † August 9, 1939[1] in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania), was an Austrian entrepreneur, art patron, and founding member of the Wiener Werkstätte.

Life[edit]

Fritz Waerndorfer came from the Jewish industrial family Wärndorfer, which owned one of the largest cotton mill operations in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the son of Samuel Wärndorfer (* 1843; † 1912) and his wife Berta née Neumann (* 1844; † 1921). In 1895 he married the translator Lili Jeanette née Hellmann (* 1874 in Vienna; † 1952 Nyack, California), and they had three kids: Helene (“Helen”) Bunzl (* 1897; † 1938)[2], Karl Richard (“Charles Richard Warndof“) (* 1899; † 1983).[3] and Herbert (* 1905; † 1924)[4][5]. Fritz and Lili divorced in 1930. In 1931 he married the young, English-born pianist and composer Fiona McCleary (* 1900; † 1986)[6].

Through Hermann Bahr he came into contact with the Vienna Secession and its leading members, including Josef Hoffmann, Gustav Klimt und Koloman Moser.

In 1902 Fritz Waerndorfer ordered the construction of a music salon designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh from Glasgow, in his home in Währing, Carl-Ludwig-Straße 45 (today Weimarer Straße 59, Ecke Colloredogasse 19), where he and his wife lived with his father Samuel and brother August (1865-1940). In 1902 the father and both brothers were registered as partners in the Wärndorfer, Benedict, Mautner cotton mill in Náchod, according to “Lehmann's Allgemeinem Wohnungs-Anzeiger für Wien.” At the same time, Mackintosh’s wife Margaret MacDonald designed a Frieze for the salon, based on the Belgian poet Maurice Maeterlinck’s “The seven princesses.”

In 1903 Fritz Waerndorfer financed the founding of the Wiener Werkstätte and was its commercial director. In 1913 he had to file for personal bankruptcy,[7] in which he and his wife lost 12.5 million Austrian krone, according to their son. Under the pressure of his family, he emigrated to the US in 1913 with his wife and kids. (The Wiener Werkstätte, also approaching bankruptcy, was saved by Otto Primavesi, Moritz Gallia, and others.) In the US he was at first a farmer, and then a designer for a textile company. He began to watercolor paint, and his work was shown in the gallery of Otto Nirenstein (later Otto Kallir) in Vienna.

Fritz Waerndorfer owned an extensive and top-class art collection, which today is scattered and can only be reconstructed through photos and other documents. From Gustav Klimt, whom Waerndorfer especially appreciated, he acquired important works such as “Pallas Athene” and “Hope I.” Among other things, his collection included about 150 letters from Aubrey Beardsley and works from Belgian sculptor and graphic artist Georg Miinne, both artists whose exhibits were appreciated by the Secessionists. Another highlight of the collection was numerous graphical works from Koloman Moser and Marcus Behmer.

His extensive letters to Carl Otto Czeschka, who had been called from the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna to Hamburg in 1907, documents Czeschka’s continued, intense collaboration with the Wiener Werkstätte[8][9][10].

In the USA he called himself “Frederick Warndof” (or “Fred Warndof”)[11] and worked as a farmer, designer, and painter. He died on August 9, 1939 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

Literature[edit]

  • E. Shapira: "Waerndorfer (Warndof), Fritz (Friedrich, Frederick, Fred)". In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Vol. 15, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2018, ISBN 978-3-7001-8383-9, p. 397 f. (Direct links to "p. 397", "p. 398")

Weblinks[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fritz Waerndorfer.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Reported in the New York Times, August 10, 1939, p.39 and in the “Pittston Gazette,” August 11, 1939, p.7: Fritz Waerndorfer died on August 9, 1939 in a hospital in Bryn Mawr. He was buried on August 11, 1939. “AUSTRIAN PAINTER DIES Bryn Mawr, Pa., Aug. 11. Funeral services were planned today for Fred Warndof, widely – known painter who established the Wiener Workstaette, an organization In Vienna which sought to bring Industry and art closer together. Warndof, who changed his name from Fritz Waerndorfer when he came to this country shortly before the World War. died Wednesday in Bryn Mawr hospital. He leaves his wife, the former Fiona Mc-Cleary, a pianist and composer.“
  2. ^ She was married to the Jewish lawyer Dr. Ernst Bunzl. After Helene’s death on January 14, 1938, he fled through France to Brazil. (Olga Kronsteiner (2018-06-10). "Der zweifach gestohlene Kokoschka". derStandard.de. Retrieved 2019-04-14.)
  3. ^ Fritz & Lili Waerndorfer: Art Patrons In New Vienna, from the website The Blue Lantern. Illuminating Arts And Letters
  4. ^ He died on April 19, 1924 as the result of a car accident, with his mother driving the car (reported in the Viennese newspaper "Arbeiterwille,” April 23, 1924 p.8 - http://anno.onb.ac.at/anno-suche), and was buried in the Döbling cemetery
  5. ^ Großzügigkeit, Gastfreundlichkeit und Generosität
  6. ^ e. g. Peter Vergo – Burlington Magazine 2011
  7. ^ Entry on Lili Waerndorfer from the website Die Arbeitslosen von Marienthal from AGSÖ, Archivs für die Geschichte der Soziologie in Österreich
  8. ^ Heinz Spielmann: “Carl Otto Czeschka. Ein Wiener Künstler in Hamburg.” Mit unveröffentlichten Briefen sowie Beiträgen von Hella Häussler und Rüdiger Joppien. HWS-Reihe: Künstler in Hamburg (Hg. von Ekkehard Nümann) Bd. 1, Wallstein-Verlag 2019, ISBN 978-3-8353-3434-2
  9. ^ http://www.h-w-s.org/maezaene/die-kuenstlerreihe/die-baende/
  10. ^ http://www.austrianposters.at/2019/09/07/wiener-werkstaette-und-wiener-schmaeh/
  11. ^ Herta Neiß "100 Jahre Wiener Werkstätte. Mythos und ökonomische Realität, 2004, Vienna, p.92
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