Dagobert Peche: Ornamental Genius

Janis Staggs, Director of Curatorial and Manager of Publications, Neue Galerie New York

With his fantastical and highly imaginative designs, Dagobert Peche (1887-1923) sparked the emergence of a profoundly whimsical and a seemingly anti-utilitarian approach to decorative arts. His impact on the development of the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshops) in the era around World War I was profound, despite a career that spanned only a dozen years. At the time of his death in 1923 at age 36, architect Josef Hoffmann lamented that Peche was “the greatest ornamental genius Austria has produced since the Baroque.” Delivered by Janis Staggs, curator of the exhibition “Dagobert Peche: Ornamental Genius” (on view now through May 4, 2026), this lecture will consider how Peche’s relentless pursuit of the beautiful can also be understood as an unceasing search for happiness.

This talk is presented as part of the Fall / Winter 2025 Lecture Series, which features a range of scholars with expertise on the art and design of Austria and Germany.

About the Speaker

Janis Staggs is Director of Curatorial and Manager of Publications at Neue Galerie New York. Her research focuses on the intersection between early twentieth century European fine and decorative arts. Since joining the Neue Galerie in 2000, Staggs has curated or co-curated numerous exhibitions, including “Sacred Spring: Modern Viennese Graphics, 1897-1918” (2025); “Gustav Klimt: Landscapes” (2024); “Ernst Ludwig Kirchner” (2019); “Wiener Werkstätte, 1903-1932: The Luxury of Beauty” (2017); “Gustav Klimt and Adele Bloch-Bauer: The Woman in Gold” (2015); and “Wiener Werkstätte Jewelry” (2008), among others. This season, she curated “Dagobert Peche: Ornamental Genius” (on view now through May 4, 2026) and co-curated “Erich Heckel” (on view now through January 12, 2026). She has contributed to various Neue Galerie catalogues and outside publications. Staggs holds an M.A. in the history of decorative arts from The New School’s Parsons School of Design and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and a B.A. in art history from the University of Maryland at College Park.

LEARN MORE

Peche Pop: Tracing Dagobert Peche in the 21st Century
Edited by Lilli Hollein, Claudia Cavallar, and Anne-Katrin Rossberg

Wiener Werkstätte 1903-1932: The Luxury of Beauty Exhibition Catalogue
Edited by Christian Witt-Dorring and Janis Staggs