DOI Artikel:
Țoca, Vlad: Romanian art historiography in the interwar period: between the search for scholarship and commitmenr to a cause
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52521#0116
110
Vlad Toga
Like many art historians who studied in Vienna, and who were later ac-
tive in important institutions of the successor states of the late empire, Pe-
tranu and Vâtàsianu felt it was their duty to put all their resources, energy,
knowledge and scholarship into serving their country, the Romanian nation-
al state.49 Strzygowski's methodology came with a complex theoretical con-
struction, which was readily taken over by the two Transylvanian art histori-
ans, because it offered them the precise instruments they needed in order to
demonstrate their ideas and theses, and also because they believed this guar-
anteed the historical and scholarly honesty, and endowed their research with
truth and impartiality.50
In the held of old Romanian art, interwar historiography made important
advances with respect to the previous period. There was no consensus among
the scholars of the time as to what art history meant or the methods to be
used in studying and interpreting the subject being studied. But most art his-
torians writing before the middle of the century shared several common ideas
and ideals, and many of them tried to find an answer to the issue of national
identity expressed through art. They based their research on strict and rigor-
ous methods, which they believed would lead to the elaboration of truly scien-
tific writings, their final aim was to achieve conclusive and definitive results,
and, in this way, gain the respect of the international academic community.
It is likely that except for Constantinescu-Iasi, all other Romanian scholars
were animated by sincere patriotism and a sense of civic duty. Like many of
their contemporaries, they believed that intellectuals were called upon to re-
search and to discover the hidden treasures of their country and to present
them to people at home and to the outside world. This must be one of the rea-
sons many of their works were published in foreign languages, and sometimes
abroad. Despite this, most of these works were not meant to be propaganda,
although some were financed, directly or indirectly, by the state for this pur-
pose. The general intention was that of producing scholarly works meant for
the use of specialists, useful, precise and objective, which would be reliable
because of these qualities. It is true that some were, in part or entirely, des-
tined for use by the general public, with the authors hoping that they would
be useful to art and history lovers, as well as for educating a young generation
of artists.
49 Bakos, "From Universalism...," pp. 79 sqq, pp. 86 sqq.
50 See M. Rampley, "The Strzygowski school of Cluj. An episode in inter-war Romanian
Cultural policies," Journal of Art Historiography June 2013, 8, available online: < https://
arthistoriography files, wordpress, com/2013/06/rampley pdf >; V Toca, "Old Romanian Art
in Virgil Vätäsianu's Works Between the Two World Wars and His Choice of Method,"
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Series Historia Artium 2012, 57(1), pp. 113-124.
Vlad Toga
Like many art historians who studied in Vienna, and who were later ac-
tive in important institutions of the successor states of the late empire, Pe-
tranu and Vâtàsianu felt it was their duty to put all their resources, energy,
knowledge and scholarship into serving their country, the Romanian nation-
al state.49 Strzygowski's methodology came with a complex theoretical con-
struction, which was readily taken over by the two Transylvanian art histori-
ans, because it offered them the precise instruments they needed in order to
demonstrate their ideas and theses, and also because they believed this guar-
anteed the historical and scholarly honesty, and endowed their research with
truth and impartiality.50
In the held of old Romanian art, interwar historiography made important
advances with respect to the previous period. There was no consensus among
the scholars of the time as to what art history meant or the methods to be
used in studying and interpreting the subject being studied. But most art his-
torians writing before the middle of the century shared several common ideas
and ideals, and many of them tried to find an answer to the issue of national
identity expressed through art. They based their research on strict and rigor-
ous methods, which they believed would lead to the elaboration of truly scien-
tific writings, their final aim was to achieve conclusive and definitive results,
and, in this way, gain the respect of the international academic community.
It is likely that except for Constantinescu-Iasi, all other Romanian scholars
were animated by sincere patriotism and a sense of civic duty. Like many of
their contemporaries, they believed that intellectuals were called upon to re-
search and to discover the hidden treasures of their country and to present
them to people at home and to the outside world. This must be one of the rea-
sons many of their works were published in foreign languages, and sometimes
abroad. Despite this, most of these works were not meant to be propaganda,
although some were financed, directly or indirectly, by the state for this pur-
pose. The general intention was that of producing scholarly works meant for
the use of specialists, useful, precise and objective, which would be reliable
because of these qualities. It is true that some were, in part or entirely, des-
tined for use by the general public, with the authors hoping that they would
be useful to art and history lovers, as well as for educating a young generation
of artists.
49 Bakos, "From Universalism...," pp. 79 sqq, pp. 86 sqq.
50 See M. Rampley, "The Strzygowski school of Cluj. An episode in inter-war Romanian
Cultural policies," Journal of Art Historiography June 2013, 8, available online: < https://
arthistoriography files, wordpress, com/2013/06/rampley pdf >; V Toca, "Old Romanian Art
in Virgil Vätäsianu's Works Between the Two World Wars and His Choice of Method,"
Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai, Series Historia Artium 2012, 57(1), pp. 113-124.