Looking around for inspiration for our family Christmas card, which I desperately would like to evolve from the traditional “here we are in front of some natural (maritime or snowy) backdrop”, I have become quite taken–like many before me, and no doubt after–with the whimsical illustrations of Mela Koehler (1885-1960). Koehler was a conspicuous member of the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop), an artistic collaboration for artists, artisans, designers and architects inspired by the British Arts and Crafts movement. In the first three decades of the twentieth century, the Workshop became incredibly influential due to the fact that it emphasized both the artistic and the entrepreneurial: marketing was clearly a priority and the postcards produced by its members were the primary marketing tool. Mela Koehler created about 150 postcards for the Workshop: typically fantasy fashion images which served not as advertisements for actual clothes but as inspiration for women to experiment with their own attire. Add a tree or some holly, or a muff (clearly her favorite accessory), and you have a winter/Christmas postcard, offered up just at the moment that these merry missives were taking off. Original Koehler postcards are quite valuable, but most seem to have been acquired by Leonard Lauder as part of his massive collection (commenced when he was 6 years old), which has been generously donated to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The MFA featured an exhibition of a sample of the Lauder postcards last year, and many have been digitized, fortunately for us and for posterity–because as artistic as these little cards are, they are still (or were), in essence, ephemera.
Mela Koehler Christmas postcards, circa 1912, from the Leonard Lauder Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
December 10th, 2014 at 8:48 am
Charming!
December 10th, 2014 at 8:57 am
Very nice in one way and a little weird in another!
December 10th, 2014 at 9:19 am
I can see why you would say that, Mark–they are not a completely familiar aesthetic.
December 10th, 2014 at 9:02 am
How evocative and revealing (fashion and culture-wise). Thank you for diese Weihnachtsgruesse from Vienna, Austria. Have a great Christmas yourself!
December 10th, 2014 at 9:19 am
You too, Maria.
December 10th, 2014 at 9:03 am
These are lovely! Thanks for introducing me to them!
December 10th, 2014 at 12:03 pm
These are beautiful! The Wiener Werkstätte created a lot of stuff that still looks great and stylish today.
December 10th, 2014 at 12:08 pm
Totally agree–quite timeless in design while originally ephemeral in genre.
December 10th, 2014 at 7:15 pm
Those are Wonderful!!! Thanks for sharing
May 26th, 2016 at 6:21 pm
Thoughtful analysis – I was fascinated by the info . Does someone know if my assistant could possibly obtain a fillable NJ DoT MFA-1 version to use ?