Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956) was one of the premier Viennese proponents of the Gesamtkunstwerk, or "total work of art." A gifted and prolific designer of architecture, furniture, utensils, clothing, bookbindings, posters, textiles, and wallpaper, Hoffmann was convinced of the social and spiritual benefits of harmonious living environments designed by a single creative mind.

Hoffmann was greatly influenced by John Ruskin, William Morris, Charles Robert Ashbee, and Otto Wagner, all of whom were dedicated to elevating the status of craft to that of fine art, and Hoffmann incorporated their teachings into the curriculum at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School for Arts and Crafts), where he was appointed professor at the age of twenty-nine. Hoffmann founded the Wiener Werkstätte in 1903 with fellow Vienna Secession member Koloman Moser.