Walter Bosse

Walter Bosse (November 13, 1904 – December 13, 1979) was a Viennese artist, designer, ceramist, potter, metalworker, and craftsman noted for his modernist bronze animal figurines and grotesques.

Early life Walter Bosse, born November 13, 1904, in Vienna, was the son of artists Luise and Julius Bosse. His father worked as a portrait painter at the imperial court.

Walter Bosse attended the Wiener Kunstgewerbeschule, now the University of Applied Arts Vienna, from 1918 to 1921, where he studied ceramics under Michael Powolny, and ornament under Franz Cižek. He then attended the Munich School of Applied Arts (Münchner Kunstgewerbeschule). During his schooling he was given the opportunity to sell his work at the Wiener Werkstätte by Josef Hoffmann, who became a mentor to Bosse. Bosse opened his own shop in Kufstein in 1923.

Career

Bosse's work grew in popularity and a number of his pieces were shown at the International Exposition of Modern Industrial and Decorative Arts in 1925. He started designing for Augarten Porcelain Works (1924) as well as Goldscheider (1926) and Metzler and Ortloff (1927). In 1931, to meet increasing demand (especially in America), Bosse opened up a bigger shop in Kufstein, but by 1933 he started to feel the effects of the economic depression. By 1937, the Kufstein works were closed. In the early 1950s, Bosse and Baller began exploring a new style of brass called the “Black Gold Line” or "Black Golden Line" of brass figurines. He transitioned all of his efforts to brass and the figures became popular worldwide. To protect his designs, he engaged in court battles which would last the rest of his life and deplete most of his money. Because of these cases, he is considered to be a seminal figure relating to modern copyright law for designer goods.

The last years of Bosse's life saw him devoting much of his time and money to his legal disputes and on December 13, 1979, Bosse died with no money to his name in Iserlohn, Germany. His oeuvre consists of about 8,000 models and designs, of which about 3,000 are ceramics.

Literature