Between 1897-1907, although primarily trained as a painter, Kolo Moser (1868–1918) was one of the foremost designers in central Europe. He was first a teacher then a professor at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, holding the latter post until his death. His friend, the architect and designer Josef Hoffmann, designed the Jugendstil house that Moser moved into, and Moser himself designed its furniture.

Koloman Moser (1868–1918), Trout Swimming (1899), design for fabric, watercolour and pencil on paper, 44 x 38 cm, Private collection. Wikimedia Commons.

Among the many products which Moser designed were fabrics manufactured by Backhausen, for whom he produced this drawing of Trout Swimming in 1899. This coincided with a phase in Klimt’s work in which fish, air bubbles, and water appeared, for example in his Fish Blood (1898), published in the Secession’s magazine Ver Sacrum, and Mermaids (Silverfish) (c 1899): see this article.

Koloman…