Virtual Curator Talk

This lecture, led by the Leon Levy Associate Curator at the Jewish Museum, Kristina Parsons, examines the vital yet often overlooked role that Jewish women played in shaping modernist art and design through their work with the Wiener Werkstätte, the influential Viennese design collective active from 1903 to 1932. Founded by architect Josef Hoffmann, artist Koloman Moser, and patron Fritz Waerndorfer, the Wiener Werkstätte embraced the ideal of the gesamtkunstwerk, the integration of art into every aspect of daily life, and provided unprecedented opportunities for women to participate in the creative economy of modern Vienna.

Parsons will highlight the contributions of Jewish women as artists, designers, patrons, and tastemakers whose influence helped define the movement’s distinctive aesthetic. Through an exploration of more than 200 works by approximately 30 Jewish women artists, audiences will discover the remarkable breadth of their achievements across ceramics, textiles, fashion, graphic arts, and decorative design.

This course is presented in partnership with Roundtable at 92NY and highlights research from our special exhibition Modernity and Opulence: Women of the Wiener Werkstätte (on through November 15, 2026). For inquiries, please contact [email protected].