Karl Mottl

Vienna 1877 - 1967

Mottl was born in Vienna in 1877 and served his apprenticeship as a gold and silversmith in Prague in 1890, qualifying as Goldschmiedmeister in 1896. From 1903 to 1910 Mottl was also attending evening classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule where artists such as Klimt and Hofner had also trained. The quality of his work was immediately acknowledged by the thriving artistic community in vienna which centred around the Wiener Werkstätte and their clients. Mottl's works are in the permanent collection of the Museum für Angewandt Kunst in Vienna. His workshop was frequented by, among others, Josef Hoffmann, Otto Prutscher and Carl Witzmann, all of whom were to commission Mottl to execute their designs.
In contrast to his work as a silversmith, the enamelled masks represent another side of the artist - that which was profoundly influenced by his interest in mysticism and symbolism.