DOI article:
Sabrina Raphaela Buebl: Defining a Discipline: Kunstgeschichtliche Anzeigen as a Critical Organ for the Vienna School
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73804#0052
Folia Historiae Artium
Seria Nowa, t. 22: 2024/PL ISSN 0071-6723
SABRINA RAPHAELA BUEBL
Universita degli Studi di Salerno and Universitat Wien
DEFINING A DISCIPLINE:
KUNSTGESCHICHTLICHE ANZEIGEN
AS A CRITICAL ORGAN FOR THE VIENNA SCHOOL*
While the journal Kunstgeschichtliche Anzeigen (KA) has
often been mentioned in obituaries or biographical over-
views of Franz Wickhoff and Max Dvorak as one of their
numerous projects,1 little has been noted about its foun-
ding, content, and objectives. The aim of this article is to
make the first synthetic presentation of this scholarly pro-
ject, which served as a critical organ for the judgement of
art-historical publications by the members of the Vien-
na School of Art History. It will be conducted on the ba-
sis of the personal correspondence between Wickhoff and
Dvorak,2 in which the founding of the KA is discussed, as
well as by highlighting some of the main values propagated
This article is the result of a talk at the conference Art History and
its Institutions in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, organised by the
Institute of Art History of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow
on 28-29 September 2023. I would like to thank Wojciech Balus,
Tomas Murar and Matthew Rampley for their valuable observa-
tions, which have enhanced this publication.
1 See, for example, V. Kramar, 'Franz Wickhoff', Volne smery,
1909, 13, pp. 211-214; D. Frey, Max Dvorak zum Gedachtnis.
Max Dvoraks Stellung in der Kunstgeschichte, Vienna 1922, p. 10;
J. Weingartner, 'Max Dvorak und die kunsthistorische Wie-
ner Schule, Hochland, 1924, vol. 21, 1, pp. 345-351, 348; F. Pol-
leross, '170. Geburtstag von Franz Wickhoff', Institut fur
Kunstgeschichte, 7.05.2023, https://kunstgeschichte.univie.ac.at/
ueber-uns/mitarbeiterinnen/institutsnachrichten/170-geburts-
tag-von-franz-wickhoff/ (access: 25.10.2024).
2 In 1903, the year before the first issue of KA was published, there
was a very intensive exchange of information on editorial as-
pects. However, for reasons of space, it is not possible to go into
all the details here. The cited letters below are from Max Dvorak
to Franz Wickhoff, located in Wickhoff's estate at the archive of
the Institut fur Kunstgeschichte (IKG) (box 2, folder 1) at the Uni-
versity of Vienna.
by the protagonists of the Vienna School, in order to estab-
lish a more precise definition of the idea of Wissenschaft-
lichkeit (scientificity ) of art history, as demanded by the
editors. Finally, a reflection on the journals effectiveness
and legitimacy in the broader context of the institutiona-
lisation of the discipline of art history will be considered.
THE PROJECT
In a letter written on 9 January 1904 to his teacher Franz
Wickhoff, Max Dvorak stated:
I think that your concerns that we want to judge but have
not published any major works recently are not justified.
Firstly, this is not the case with you, for if anyone's work
gives one the right to pass judgement on scientific que-
stions in art history, it is you, and no one else, for no one
in Germany has done as much for the scientificity of art
history as you have. Secondly, in my opinion, it is not
at all necessary for a reviewer to acquire the legal title
for his profession through his own great works, just as
a reviewer in fine literature does not have to be a poet
himself. It is sufficient if he has methodical training and
is competent in relation to the book under discussion.
I am convinced, by the way, that once the matter is set in
motion, it will run by itself and become the real scien-
tific centre.3
'Ich glaube[,] dass Ihre Bedenken deshalb, dass wir richten wol-
len und selbst keine grossen Arbeiten in der letzten Zeit publicie-
ren[,] nicht berechtigt sind. Erstens triffi es bei Ihnen nicht zu,
denn wenn Jemandem seine Arbeiten das Recht geben uber wis-
senschaftliche Fragen in der Kunstgeschichte ein Urteil zu fal-
len, so sind es Sie, wie niemand zweiter, denn niemand hat in
Deutschland fur die Wissenschaftlichkeit der Kunstgeschichte
Seria Nowa, t. 22: 2024/PL ISSN 0071-6723
SABRINA RAPHAELA BUEBL
Universita degli Studi di Salerno and Universitat Wien
DEFINING A DISCIPLINE:
KUNSTGESCHICHTLICHE ANZEIGEN
AS A CRITICAL ORGAN FOR THE VIENNA SCHOOL*
While the journal Kunstgeschichtliche Anzeigen (KA) has
often been mentioned in obituaries or biographical over-
views of Franz Wickhoff and Max Dvorak as one of their
numerous projects,1 little has been noted about its foun-
ding, content, and objectives. The aim of this article is to
make the first synthetic presentation of this scholarly pro-
ject, which served as a critical organ for the judgement of
art-historical publications by the members of the Vien-
na School of Art History. It will be conducted on the ba-
sis of the personal correspondence between Wickhoff and
Dvorak,2 in which the founding of the KA is discussed, as
well as by highlighting some of the main values propagated
This article is the result of a talk at the conference Art History and
its Institutions in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, organised by the
Institute of Art History of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow
on 28-29 September 2023. I would like to thank Wojciech Balus,
Tomas Murar and Matthew Rampley for their valuable observa-
tions, which have enhanced this publication.
1 See, for example, V. Kramar, 'Franz Wickhoff', Volne smery,
1909, 13, pp. 211-214; D. Frey, Max Dvorak zum Gedachtnis.
Max Dvoraks Stellung in der Kunstgeschichte, Vienna 1922, p. 10;
J. Weingartner, 'Max Dvorak und die kunsthistorische Wie-
ner Schule, Hochland, 1924, vol. 21, 1, pp. 345-351, 348; F. Pol-
leross, '170. Geburtstag von Franz Wickhoff', Institut fur
Kunstgeschichte, 7.05.2023, https://kunstgeschichte.univie.ac.at/
ueber-uns/mitarbeiterinnen/institutsnachrichten/170-geburts-
tag-von-franz-wickhoff/ (access: 25.10.2024).
2 In 1903, the year before the first issue of KA was published, there
was a very intensive exchange of information on editorial as-
pects. However, for reasons of space, it is not possible to go into
all the details here. The cited letters below are from Max Dvorak
to Franz Wickhoff, located in Wickhoff's estate at the archive of
the Institut fur Kunstgeschichte (IKG) (box 2, folder 1) at the Uni-
versity of Vienna.
by the protagonists of the Vienna School, in order to estab-
lish a more precise definition of the idea of Wissenschaft-
lichkeit (scientificity ) of art history, as demanded by the
editors. Finally, a reflection on the journals effectiveness
and legitimacy in the broader context of the institutiona-
lisation of the discipline of art history will be considered.
THE PROJECT
In a letter written on 9 January 1904 to his teacher Franz
Wickhoff, Max Dvorak stated:
I think that your concerns that we want to judge but have
not published any major works recently are not justified.
Firstly, this is not the case with you, for if anyone's work
gives one the right to pass judgement on scientific que-
stions in art history, it is you, and no one else, for no one
in Germany has done as much for the scientificity of art
history as you have. Secondly, in my opinion, it is not
at all necessary for a reviewer to acquire the legal title
for his profession through his own great works, just as
a reviewer in fine literature does not have to be a poet
himself. It is sufficient if he has methodical training and
is competent in relation to the book under discussion.
I am convinced, by the way, that once the matter is set in
motion, it will run by itself and become the real scien-
tific centre.3
'Ich glaube[,] dass Ihre Bedenken deshalb, dass wir richten wol-
len und selbst keine grossen Arbeiten in der letzten Zeit publicie-
ren[,] nicht berechtigt sind. Erstens triffi es bei Ihnen nicht zu,
denn wenn Jemandem seine Arbeiten das Recht geben uber wis-
senschaftliche Fragen in der Kunstgeschichte ein Urteil zu fal-
len, so sind es Sie, wie niemand zweiter, denn niemand hat in
Deutschland fur die Wissenschaftlichkeit der Kunstgeschichte