DOI article:
Murár, Tomáš: ‘I am wrong about my qualifications, or I do not have any friends’: Archival Research on the First Professorship of Max Dvořák
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73804#0066
65
it at the university). [...] This demonstration by Wick-
hoff - he attended Dvorak's lectures for the whole week
- had its effect. Dvorak lectured in total silence'.71
Thus, as we conclude our survey of Max Dvorak's first
university professorship, it is possible to present archival
findings that show that the institutional mechanics of ear-
ly 20th-century art history defined who would and who
would not have an opportunity to contribute to the de-
velopment of the Vienna School method of art history. In
other words, Max Dvorak was only able to become the
leading representative of the Vienna School, as Kramar
referred to him in 1910, because he was appointed an asso-
ciate professor of art history at the University of Vienna in
1905, and not at Prague University in 1903 or at Fribourg
University in 1904. This turn of events was, as the archival
findings suggest, more or less accidental and, in all likeli-
hood, was not especially defined by any methodological
connections with any other proponents of what the con-
temporary historiography of art history has constructed
to be the 'Vienna School'. This understanding, I believe,
can provide us with a vital impulse for newly reviewing
the history and meaning of the Vienna School of Art His-
tory from the viewpoint of its methodological origins.72
SUMMARY
Tomas Murar
T AM WRONG ABOUT MY QUALIFICATIONS,
OR I DO NOT HAVE ANY FRIENDS':
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH ON THE FIRST
PROFESSORSHIP OF MAX DVORAK
The study presents the results of archival research on the
circumstances in which Max Dvorak was appointed asso-
ciate professor for art history at the University of Vienna
in 1905. The archival materials studied include correspon-
dence relating to two previous but unsuccessful attempts
by Dvorak to become a professor at the universities in
Prague at Bohemia and at Fribourg in Switzerland. The
institutional mechanics that form the backdrop against
which Dvorak struggled to find a steady university job as
an art historian in the early 20th century are then present-
ed as a lens through which to newly examine and under-
stand the historiographic concept of the so-called Vienna
School of Art History.
71 Ibidem, p. 521. Dvorak knew about Wickhoff's importance for his
career, as he stated in his letter on 29 December 1905, see aiahvu
fw, 'Dvorak to Wickhoff on 29 December 1905': 'Du hast jedes Jahr
seit dem wir uns konnen so viel mich getan, dass mehr kaum mog-
lich gewesen ware, doch was ich Dir [...] verdanke, lasst sich gar
nicht sagen. Moge mir vergonnt sein es Dir lange durch Liebe und
Dankbarkeit so weit es in meinen Kraften steht zu entlohnen.'
72 This study was produced with financial assistance from the Sup-
port for the Long-term Conceptual Development of the Research
Organisation, Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of
Sciences, v. v. i, RVO: 68378033.
it at the university). [...] This demonstration by Wick-
hoff - he attended Dvorak's lectures for the whole week
- had its effect. Dvorak lectured in total silence'.71
Thus, as we conclude our survey of Max Dvorak's first
university professorship, it is possible to present archival
findings that show that the institutional mechanics of ear-
ly 20th-century art history defined who would and who
would not have an opportunity to contribute to the de-
velopment of the Vienna School method of art history. In
other words, Max Dvorak was only able to become the
leading representative of the Vienna School, as Kramar
referred to him in 1910, because he was appointed an asso-
ciate professor of art history at the University of Vienna in
1905, and not at Prague University in 1903 or at Fribourg
University in 1904. This turn of events was, as the archival
findings suggest, more or less accidental and, in all likeli-
hood, was not especially defined by any methodological
connections with any other proponents of what the con-
temporary historiography of art history has constructed
to be the 'Vienna School'. This understanding, I believe,
can provide us with a vital impulse for newly reviewing
the history and meaning of the Vienna School of Art His-
tory from the viewpoint of its methodological origins.72
SUMMARY
Tomas Murar
T AM WRONG ABOUT MY QUALIFICATIONS,
OR I DO NOT HAVE ANY FRIENDS':
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH ON THE FIRST
PROFESSORSHIP OF MAX DVORAK
The study presents the results of archival research on the
circumstances in which Max Dvorak was appointed asso-
ciate professor for art history at the University of Vienna
in 1905. The archival materials studied include correspon-
dence relating to two previous but unsuccessful attempts
by Dvorak to become a professor at the universities in
Prague at Bohemia and at Fribourg in Switzerland. The
institutional mechanics that form the backdrop against
which Dvorak struggled to find a steady university job as
an art historian in the early 20th century are then present-
ed as a lens through which to newly examine and under-
stand the historiographic concept of the so-called Vienna
School of Art History.
71 Ibidem, p. 521. Dvorak knew about Wickhoff's importance for his
career, as he stated in his letter on 29 December 1905, see aiahvu
fw, 'Dvorak to Wickhoff on 29 December 1905': 'Du hast jedes Jahr
seit dem wir uns konnen so viel mich getan, dass mehr kaum mog-
lich gewesen ware, doch was ich Dir [...] verdanke, lasst sich gar
nicht sagen. Moge mir vergonnt sein es Dir lange durch Liebe und
Dankbarkeit so weit es in meinen Kraften steht zu entlohnen.'
72 This study was produced with financial assistance from the Sup-
port for the Long-term Conceptual Development of the Research
Organisation, Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of
Sciences, v. v. i, RVO: 68378033.