DOI Heft:
Nr. 1
DOI Artikel:Blower, Jonathan: Max Dvořák, Wilhelm von Bode and "The Monuments of German Art"
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31179#0098
draft programs and their distillate clearly shows — and
superlatives are justiňed here — that the most ambi-
tious sériés of publications in the history of German
art history was substantially planned by the son of an
archivist from Raudnitz. Finally, a few réservations
as to the scope and feasibility of the D(?7A^%AA Ar
A^?yA^ A/?//y7should also be heard, for ultimately the
whole undertaking was to prove quite impracticable;
highly admirable, perhaps, for its scientihc idealism
and rigour, but hawed on account of its disregard
for economic and political realities.
Art History: International Congress
or German Members' Club?
In his opening address to the hrst ever congress
of art history at Vienna in September 1873, Rudolf
von Eitelberger underlined the importance of art
scholarship for all cultured nations and asserted
the existence of the discipHne as a matter of fact.
This relatively recent held of academie inquiry, he
continued, was not merely conhned to Germany;
on the contrary - England, France, Bclgium and
Holland perhaps stood at an even higher level. "TA?
A^Ar /A Agn?<? o/ A á' ?A
AčTř A A Af y7<?V gf Ay^ry 2/^^ ^oAy
On the back of this proposition, Eitelberger pro-
ceeded to outline the aims of the congress, present
and future. It would bring together like-minded
scholars engaged in the research of art history as
w?A?n*A culture and it would organise their collabo-
rative scientihc endeavour formally, by committee.
The main topics of discussion at the hrst congress
would include the methodical cataloguing of public
collections; secondary and tertiary art éducation; the
produchon and dissémination of reproductions; the
possible application of photography in these areas;
and the conservation of artworks and monuments.
Papers on these topics were presented and their con-
clusions put before the sixty or so delegates in the
' WIEN 1873 (see in note 25), p. 447.
Ibidem, p. 493. In this much, the congress was well ahead of
the more general shift towards modern conservation practice
that began to assert itself within the relevant Austrian and
German conservation institutions after 1900. This resolution
is selected as an example for its relevance to Dvorak's work
form of motions which were then debated, amended
and ratihed. Thus, for instance, the congress heard
a number of short reports on the restoration of
paintings, drawings, buildings and metalworks before
Karl von Lützow formulated the collective view of
the congress in the following resolution: "TA nw-
^n?yyJA tzH Wort y^y Q? 2t? 2/A2, n?jp<?r/ 2o
tzr22y2T/WO%/?/??íw2y, 2A hrst oMíyz/hw yf h /o A
;%y The only minor objection
here was voiced by Moritz Thausing, who argued
that this Statement was largely redundant because
the principle it expressed already went without say-
ing among art historians anyway. But the résolution
was accepted and discussion moved on, treating a
few less fundamental questions before the second
session was wound up for lunch.
The following day, the third session of the con-
gress heard a lengthy letter from Prof. Anton Hein-
rich Springer (1825 — 1891), a Bohemian art historian
based in Leipzig. SpringeTs letter addressed most if
not all of the points on the agenda, and included a
proposai and program for a new art historical so-
ciety, or, more accurately, a "yčA<?2y yA ?A
yf V Ay2oAA yyAAAýVV It was to
be called the Gesellschaft Albertina, with reference
to the Viennese museum and in honour of Queen
Victoriah Prince Consort, who was supposedly a
great advocate of technical reproduction. Springer s
eight-point program can be summarized as follows:
1. The society will utilize photography for the
beneht of art historical study and "proAA 2A
/%?<?àwy %i?ri?yy<3rt yA ^VAAAAy oygtzAyA
y<wm?%.'<?;A <w <%r2"Q
2. it will publish photographs of outstanding,
unknown or insufhciently known artworks;
3. it will produce a regulär annual publication as well
as larger, irregulär publications;
4. members receive the regulär annual publication
(Jahresgabe) free of charge;
5. membership costs 20 Marks / 25 francs per an-
num;
as conservator general at the Austrian Central Commission.
He would hâve supported the proposition wholeheartedly
and may well hâve been aware of it.
WIEN 1873 (see in note 25), pp. 497-502, 522-525.
Ibidem, p. 502.
96
superlatives are justiňed here — that the most ambi-
tious sériés of publications in the history of German
art history was substantially planned by the son of an
archivist from Raudnitz. Finally, a few réservations
as to the scope and feasibility of the D(?7A^%AA Ar
A^?yA^ A/?//y7should also be heard, for ultimately the
whole undertaking was to prove quite impracticable;
highly admirable, perhaps, for its scientihc idealism
and rigour, but hawed on account of its disregard
for economic and political realities.
Art History: International Congress
or German Members' Club?
In his opening address to the hrst ever congress
of art history at Vienna in September 1873, Rudolf
von Eitelberger underlined the importance of art
scholarship for all cultured nations and asserted
the existence of the discipHne as a matter of fact.
This relatively recent held of academie inquiry, he
continued, was not merely conhned to Germany;
on the contrary - England, France, Bclgium and
Holland perhaps stood at an even higher level. "TA?
A^Ar /A Agn?<? o/ A á' ?A
AčTř A A Af y7<?V gf Ay^ry 2/^^ ^oAy
On the back of this proposition, Eitelberger pro-
ceeded to outline the aims of the congress, present
and future. It would bring together like-minded
scholars engaged in the research of art history as
w?A?n*A culture and it would organise their collabo-
rative scientihc endeavour formally, by committee.
The main topics of discussion at the hrst congress
would include the methodical cataloguing of public
collections; secondary and tertiary art éducation; the
produchon and dissémination of reproductions; the
possible application of photography in these areas;
and the conservation of artworks and monuments.
Papers on these topics were presented and their con-
clusions put before the sixty or so delegates in the
' WIEN 1873 (see in note 25), p. 447.
Ibidem, p. 493. In this much, the congress was well ahead of
the more general shift towards modern conservation practice
that began to assert itself within the relevant Austrian and
German conservation institutions after 1900. This resolution
is selected as an example for its relevance to Dvorak's work
form of motions which were then debated, amended
and ratihed. Thus, for instance, the congress heard
a number of short reports on the restoration of
paintings, drawings, buildings and metalworks before
Karl von Lützow formulated the collective view of
the congress in the following resolution: "TA nw-
^n?yyJA tzH Wort y^y Q? 2t? 2/A2, n?jp<?r/ 2o
tzr22y2T/WO%/?/??íw2y, 2A hrst oMíyz/hw yf h /o A
;%y The only minor objection
here was voiced by Moritz Thausing, who argued
that this Statement was largely redundant because
the principle it expressed already went without say-
ing among art historians anyway. But the résolution
was accepted and discussion moved on, treating a
few less fundamental questions before the second
session was wound up for lunch.
The following day, the third session of the con-
gress heard a lengthy letter from Prof. Anton Hein-
rich Springer (1825 — 1891), a Bohemian art historian
based in Leipzig. SpringeTs letter addressed most if
not all of the points on the agenda, and included a
proposai and program for a new art historical so-
ciety, or, more accurately, a "yčA<?2y yA ?A
yf V Ay2oAA yyAAAýVV It was to
be called the Gesellschaft Albertina, with reference
to the Viennese museum and in honour of Queen
Victoriah Prince Consort, who was supposedly a
great advocate of technical reproduction. Springer s
eight-point program can be summarized as follows:
1. The society will utilize photography for the
beneht of art historical study and "proAA 2A
/%?<?àwy %i?ri?yy<3rt yA ^VAAAAy oygtzAyA
y<wm?%.'<?;A <w <%r2"Q
2. it will publish photographs of outstanding,
unknown or insufhciently known artworks;
3. it will produce a regulär annual publication as well
as larger, irregulär publications;
4. members receive the regulär annual publication
(Jahresgabe) free of charge;
5. membership costs 20 Marks / 25 francs per an-
num;
as conservator general at the Austrian Central Commission.
He would hâve supported the proposition wholeheartedly
and may well hâve been aware of it.
WIEN 1873 (see in note 25), pp. 497-502, 522-525.
Ibidem, p. 502.
96