Dagobert Peche Biography
Dagobert Peche was born in 1887 in St. Michael im Lungau, in the Salzburg area. Initially trained as an architect, his career developed primarily through his extraordinary talent as a designer of the decorative arts. Peche was recognized as ushering in a new era for the decorative arts.
In 1906, Peche began his studies at the Technische Hochschule (Technical Institute) in Vienna under the guidance of Max von Ferstel, Karl König and Leopold Simony. In 1908 he moved to the Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts) in Vienna, where Friedrich Ohmann, a renowned architect, became his main influence. During a trip to Britain in 1910, Peche is alleged to have admired the work of graphic artist Aubrey Beardsley, whose lineage influenced Peche's early style. His works were published in "Der Architekt" from 1909 to 1911.
In 1910, Peche met Petronella (Nelly) Daberkow, whom he married the following year, around the same time he graduated from the Akademie der bildenden Künste. During a birthday party for architect Otto Wagner, Peche met Josef Hoffmann, who led him to offer fabric and wallpaper designs to the Wiener Werkstätte. Additionally, he demonstrated skill in other areas as well, contributing to designs of furniture, glass, jewelry, toys, and other objects. In the field of graphic arts, Peche created postcards, invitation cards, ex-libris and posters. His figures, often representing cherubs, reclining nudes or characters from the comic art of harlequin art, were distinguished by their suggestive pose with a slight rococo influence and conveyed a playful and erotic atmosphere.
Peche also made woodcuts which were included in the fashion portfolio "Mode Wien 1914/15". As his involvement with the Wiener Werkstätte grew, Peche also supplied designs to other companies, including Johann Backhausen & Söhne (textiles and carpets), Vereinigte Wiener & Gmundner Keramik (ceramics), Oskar Dietrich (jewelry), J. Soulek (furniture ) and Max Schmidt and Flammersheim & Steinmann (wallpaper).
In the spring of 1915, Peche officially became artistic director of the Wiener Werkstätte, a role he held until the outbreak of the First World War. He was drafted into the Army in 1916 but was released the following year due to health problems resulting from appendicitis. With Hoffmann's help, in 1917 Peche and his family moved to Zurich, where he managed the branch of the Wiener Werkstätte until 1919. Subsequently, Peche returned to Vienna at the end of 1919, where he died on April 16, 1923 due to a malignant tumor.
