Josef Hoffmann, one of modern architecture’s noblest pioneers, created works of a cubistic-geometric phase in the context of the Viennese Art Nouveau at the turn of the 20th century. His work remains highly influential today for artists and architects seeking to forge new aesthetic languages for the present. Thus Hoffmann is a well-represented artistic figure in posterity. At the Neue Galerie in New York City, a recent widely-acclaimed retrospective revealed the strength and timelessness of Hoffmann's designs to be all the more evident.

It was in 1905, while working on the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, that Hoffmann conceived this unique piano as one of the finest and most intricate touches to the greater space. The instrument on display today in the Art History Museum of Vienna is the “twin sister” to the original instrument from the concert hall of Palais Stoclet. The case is most typical of Hoffmann’s aesthetic, with rhythmic vertical grooves running along the sides of the oak case. The T-shaped copper plate which provides the housing for the pedal mechanism is too highly characteristic of Hoffman. The quadrant cut-outs through the music effectively represent the “signature touch” of this singular artist.

With nearly a century now past since its creation, the absolutely unique piano which Hoffmann designed for Bösendorfer still stands as one of the finest examples of any such collaboration.