The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Figure of a Couple Sitting on a Bench

c. 1920–28
designed by

Kitty Rix

(Austrian, 1901–1951)
maker

Wiener Werkstätte

(Austria, Vienna, 1903–32)
Austria, Vienna
glazed ceramic
Overall: 12.7 x 13.3 cm (5 x 5 1/4 in.)
Educational Purchase Fund 1929.690
Location: Not on view

Description

Austrian designers Walter Bosse and Kitty Rix feature colorful, bright forms in their ceramic figures that conjure whimsy and invite imagined stories. Their exaggerated features—such as oversize eyes, ears, and whiskers as well as elongated necks or shortened limbs—use caricature to emphasize elements of form, engaging the viewer through humor and charm. Throughout their careers, Bosse and Rix produced modernist designs for the two leading artist workshops—the Wiener Werkstätte and the Austrian Werkbund.
  • 1929
    (Rena Rosenthal, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    1929-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Art Deco. The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH (organizer) (December 2, 1973-January 27, 1974).
  • {{cite web|title=Figure of a Couple Sitting on a Bench|url=false|author=Kitty Rix, Wiener Werkstätte|year=c. 1920–28|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.690