Hans Ofner

Born in St. Pölten, Austria in 1880, Hans Ofner studied arts and crafts at the first school of its kind on the continent, the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna (now known as the University of Arts and Crafts Vienna). Ofner studied under esteemed architect and designer Josef Hoffman and learned enameling from Adele von Starch, the lone female professor at the school at the time. He is known for working in the modern style of the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop) which had great influence on later styles like the German Bauhaus Movement and the Art Deco Movement that sprang up in Western Europe and the United States.