And what about Japan?

The exhibition does an excellent job of showcasing the designs and artworks created by Felice Rix-Ueno in Vienna before the Second World War. However, it falls short in representing her later career in Japan, where she continued to work until she passed away in 1967. The projects she conducted in Japan are present only in the section of interior designs alongside her early Viennese designs. One such early example is the wall painting for the Wiener Werkstätte salesroom for ribbons and lace. However, there are only a few photographs of her interior designs co-created in Japan. One such example is the Star Bar in Kyoto, which was designed by Felice Rix and her husband Isburo Ueno under the name of their Ueno Architectural Studio. Isaburo was responsible for the architectural side of projects, while Felice Rix managed the arts and crafts aspect. The Star Bar was based on standard, simple modernist architectural principles, but the colorful interior decorations were very much in the style of the Wiener Werkstätte retail store, where Felice Rix had previously painted the ceiling. 

At the exhibition, you can observe a photo reproduction of a folding screen adorned with birds, flowers, and trees from 1935. According to Japanese design historian Yuko Ikeda, this work indicates that Felice Rix was familiar with traditional Japanese painting at that time. Another example of her later work showcased at the exhibition is the Actress Restaurant’s wall decoration (1963) in Tokyo. Architect Togo Murano requested Felice Rix-Ueno to produce decorative panels on Japanese paper using the traditional Japanese glueing technique called fukurobari to be attached to the concrete wall. The wall decoration featured brightly colored flowers on the gleaming silver walls and ceiling.

In Felice Rix-Ueno’s later works, one can observe a remarkable amalgamation of her Viennese experience with specifically Japanese form and material. She blended her colorful and joyful repertoire of stylistic forms, which she developed during her time in the Wiener Werkstätte, with experiments using traditional Japanese techniques. This approach was also encouraged by the Westernization of Japanese arts and crafts production in the early 20th century. Felice Rix-Ueno was employed at the Gunma Prefectural Crafts Centre and later at the Textile Research Institute in Kyoto, where she was tasked with designing items for both export and domestic consumption. Here, she was encouraged to incorporate Westernized elements into interior decoration and fabric design while also seeking distinctive Japanese design solutions. In this context, Rix’s work stands out as an extraordinary and innovative response to the challenges posed by the tides of cultural change.