DOI Artikel:
Kolbiarz Chmelinová, Katarína: University art history in Slovakia after WWII and its sovietization in the 1950s
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52521#0167
Katarina Kolbiarz Chmelinovâ
UNIVERSITY ART HISTORY IN SLOVAKIA AFTER WWII
AND ITS SOVIETIZATION IN THE 1950S*
World War II dramatically altered the face of Europe, and university edu-
cation in Slovakia, again part of Czechoslovakia, did not escape its influence.
Many decades have passed, but our knowledge of these issues still contains
gaps. This is due to the fact that the nature of the material studied resembles
a murky quagmire. The text that follows is the very Erst attempt to present
in greater detail the extent and character of changes in university art history
instruction in the socialist era of the Czechoslovak Republic, i.e. up to 1960.
Like it or not, we are its heirs, and the roots of the present system of uni-
versity teaching of this discipline stretch all the way back to that time. This
contribution represents an in-depth probe into the postwar efforts to build
a new university foundation and system of art history instruction in Slova-
kia within the Czechoslovak Republic and its sovietization. It focuses on the
extent and character of changes reflected in the composition of programs of
study, the organization of extra-curricular activities and the politically un-
stable composition of the art history faculty members. Its core is particularly
constituted by transformations in pedagogical processes from the early 1950s
in the period of the communist regime consolidating its hold. It is also based
on the study and comparison of hitherto-unprocessed sources from various
universities and state and private archives, and their classification in terms of
known historical facts. The issues are primarily considered as an expression
of an independent social and cultural system and not from the aspect of the
negatively simplifying concepts of totalitarianism.* 1 The aim of this text is to
broaden the factual basis and existing overview of knowledge of art history
I would like to express my gratitude to Alexandra Kusâ (Slovak National Gallery
Bratislava), Eva Kowalska, Marina Zâvackâ and Adam Hudek (Slovak Academy of Sciences
in Bratislava) for their kind consultations at the beginning of my research.
1 See e.g. S. Kotkin, Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization, Berkeley-Los An-
geles-London 1997.
UNIVERSITY ART HISTORY IN SLOVAKIA AFTER WWII
AND ITS SOVIETIZATION IN THE 1950S*
World War II dramatically altered the face of Europe, and university edu-
cation in Slovakia, again part of Czechoslovakia, did not escape its influence.
Many decades have passed, but our knowledge of these issues still contains
gaps. This is due to the fact that the nature of the material studied resembles
a murky quagmire. The text that follows is the very Erst attempt to present
in greater detail the extent and character of changes in university art history
instruction in the socialist era of the Czechoslovak Republic, i.e. up to 1960.
Like it or not, we are its heirs, and the roots of the present system of uni-
versity teaching of this discipline stretch all the way back to that time. This
contribution represents an in-depth probe into the postwar efforts to build
a new university foundation and system of art history instruction in Slova-
kia within the Czechoslovak Republic and its sovietization. It focuses on the
extent and character of changes reflected in the composition of programs of
study, the organization of extra-curricular activities and the politically un-
stable composition of the art history faculty members. Its core is particularly
constituted by transformations in pedagogical processes from the early 1950s
in the period of the communist regime consolidating its hold. It is also based
on the study and comparison of hitherto-unprocessed sources from various
universities and state and private archives, and their classification in terms of
known historical facts. The issues are primarily considered as an expression
of an independent social and cultural system and not from the aspect of the
negatively simplifying concepts of totalitarianism.* 1 The aim of this text is to
broaden the factual basis and existing overview of knowledge of art history
I would like to express my gratitude to Alexandra Kusâ (Slovak National Gallery
Bratislava), Eva Kowalska, Marina Zâvackâ and Adam Hudek (Slovak Academy of Sciences
in Bratislava) for their kind consultations at the beginning of my research.
1 See e.g. S. Kotkin, Magnetic Mountain: Stalinism as a Civilization, Berkeley-Los An-
geles-London 1997.