Lillian Langseth-Christensen

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Lillian Langseth-Christensen (* 1908 in New York City , United States ; † 1995 ) was an Austrian designer and non-fiction author.

life and work

Lillian Langseth-Christensen's father was a former Austro-Hungarian cavalry officer who after 1904 New York City , there to meet his future had gone, originally from Austria woman, and stayed there forever. In 1906 her brother Edward was born in New York. The family lived in favorable financial circumstances and could afford to visit their former homeland every year (except 1916–1918).

In 1914 Lillian met Gustav Klimt during a long stay in Vienna ; years later she received a drawing that her mother bought from Klimt. In the course of this trip, the parents went with Lillian to Karlsbad , Bohemia , where both of the child's grandmothers lived. In New York, the parents participated intensively in cultural life. Because of her cultural interests, Lillian came to the magazine German Art and Decoration as a child , for which the architect and designer Josef Hoffmann took photos.

In 1922, the 14-year-old, who was four years older on paper, traveled to Vienna accompanied by her mother, in order to be accepted by Josef Hoffmann in his class ( Hoffmann School ) at the Kunstgewerbeschule am Stubenring , now the University of Applied Arts Vienna . what she succeeded. Lillian's study plans were supported by the Viennese opera set designer Joseph Urban , who worked in New York and whom she later referred to as her original Viennese mentor. Your accommodation provider was Wilhelm Gericke , who lived with his family not far from the Vienna City Park in the 3rd district, Beatrixgasse 30. Most young women of the bourgeoisie then had other plans: a solid wedding and starting a family.

Lillian Langseth-Christensen had met Hoffmann from relevant literature and was fascinated by his work, even if, as she wrote, he communicated almost wordlessly with his students. Langseth-Christensen was a student of Hoffmann and his assistant Oswald Haerdtl until 1925 ; Her fellow student Carmela Prati (de Vittorelli; Bozen 1901–1989 Vienna) married Haerdtl in 1927. After the summer vacation of 1925, Lillian did not return to the arts and crafts school because of the sudden death of her brother Edward (he died in Paris of typhus).

After working as an interior designer in New York for several years, Lillian Langseth-Christensen began writing regularly for Gourmet magazine and published over 30 cookbooks in the decades that followed. To do this, she traveled to the Far East.

During her time in Vienna, she published the book A Design For Living in 1987 . Vienna in the Twenties (Viking, New York 1987, ISBN 0-670-80089-9 ), in which she described Hoffmann and Haerdtl's method of working. Among other things, she drew attention to the essential differences between Art Nouveau and the Secession style , which she valued : This has left out traditional ornaments - in contrast to the flowing lines and intertwined lily motifs cultivated by Art Nouveau and Art Nouveau. But she also described in detail the fashion preferences of the upper and middle class women of Vienna at the time.

She spent her twilight years with her husband Richard Langseth-Christensen, a painter, in Lunz am See , Lower Austria. The year of her death is given as 1995.

Publications (selection)

  • Gourmet's Old Vienna Cookbook: A Viennese Memoir . Literary Licensing 2011 (first edition 1959; the work was a bestseller for a long time). ISBN 978-1258024789
  • The brunch cookbook , together with Carol Sturm Smith. With illustrations by Lillian Langseth-Christensen. New York, Walker 1968
  • The Holiday Cook . New York, Lion Press 1969; with illustrations by Richard Langseth-Christensen
  • The Mystic Seaport cookbook: 350 Years of New England Cooking . Galahad Books 1970. ISBN 978-0883652145
  • Voyage gastronomique; a culinary autobiography . New York, Hawthorn Books 1973
  • Instant Epicure Cook Book: Gourmet Cooking in 20 Minutes . Dover Publications 1975. ISBN 978-0486231280
  • A design for living. Vienna in the Twenties . Viking, New York 1987, ISBN 978-0670800896

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Remembered Childhoods: A Guide to Autobiography and Memoirs of Childhood - Jeffrey E. Long . Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ A Design ... (see literature), p. 3, p. 18
  3. ↑ A Design ... , p. 42
  4. ↑ A Design ... , p. 14
  5. ↑ A Design ... , p. 8
  6. ↑ a b A Design for Living: Vienna in the Twenties - Editorial Review . Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  7. ↑ A Design… , p. 26, with Urban beach photo
  8. ↑ A Design ... , p. 69
  9. ↑ A Design ... , e.g. BS 115
  10. ^ New York Times: In Germany, Spring Wears White . Article dated May 19, 2004, accessed July 20, 2015.
  11. ^ Langseth-Christensen on the Gourmet website . Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  12. ^ Worldcat - Langseth-Christensen, Lillian . Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  13. ↑ A Design ... , p. 54
  14. ^ A b Voyage Gastronomique: A Culinary Autobiography . Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  15. ↑ The brunch cookbook . Retrieved July 20, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Langseth-Christensen, Lillian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian designer and writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1908
DATE OF DEATH 1995