Francesco Mazzaferro. The Celebrations in Vienna for the 150 Years since the Birth of Julius von Schlosser

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Francesco Mazzaferro
The Celebrations in Vienna for the 150 Years since the Birth of Julius von Schlosser.

Fig. 1) The poster announcing the two days of study at the Kunsthistorisches Museum

N.B.: On Julius von Schlosser, see in this blog also: Julius von Schlosser’s Italy, Edited by Loredana Lorizzo; Julius von Schlosser and Two Anthologies of Art History; Julius von Schlosser. The meaning of the sources for the history of art of the modern age; Kunstliteratur – La letteratura artistica – art literature; Albert Ilg and Julius von Schlosser: Two Different Interpretations of Cennino Cennini in Austria-Hungary of 1871 and 1914.

On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Julius von Schlosser (1866-1938), whose precise recurrence was on September 23, 2016, the two Viennese institutions which have marked most the life of the scholar have recently dedicated a conference [1] and an exhibition to him [2], respectively at the Kunsthistorisches Museum - where Schlosser was active since 1889 as curator of several collections, including the treasury (Schatzkammer), the collections of coins and the one of musical instruments (really beloved by him, as an expert cellist) - and at the University of Vienna (and in particular the Institute of History of Art), where he worked in the second part of his professional life, first as a lecturer since 1905 and then as a full professor since 1922 [3].

Unfortunately, the conference has not been recorded and made available in video streaming, and we will have therefore to wait for the publication of the proceedings, foreseen in 2018, in order to take full advantage of the discussion and of the most recent studies. Matthew Rampley has however just published a short but substantial report on new findings, entitled "Julius von Schlosser: Aesthetics, Art History and the Book". Some materials, moreover, are available on the website of the two institutions. In particular, Friedrich Polleroß of the Vienna University has curated a delicious 24-page brochure that serves as the catalogue for the exhibition, and which is now available in the internet. On that basis, I am proposing hereafter some considerations on the Vienna events, which unfortunately I could not attend.

One of the central themes of the conference was the relationship between Schlosser and some leading personalities of the culture of his time, in Austria, Germany and Italy: Alois Riegl (1858-1905), the main representative of the Vienna school in the late nineteenth century; the director of the Berlin museums Wilhelm von Bode (1845-1929), the art critics Aby Warburg (1866-1929) and Heinrich Wölfflin (1864-1945), the philologist Karl Vossler (1872 -1949) and the philosopher Benedetto Croce (1866 -1952), whose texts Schlosser translated from Italian into German. It should be noted, as a curiosity, that also Wölfflin and Croce were born in 1866, so that their 150th anniversary of the birth occurs this year. The correspondence with Bode was presented at the Vienna conference by Hans Ulrich Kessler, the relationship between Schlosser and Riegl was examined by Artur Rosenauer, the one with Warburg by Michael Thimann, the intense interaction with Croce was discussed by Sebastian Schütze, while Robert Williams has been dwelling on the contacts with Vossler and Wölfflin.

The conference was therefore not centred on the art literature per se [4], although it offered three opportunities for reflection on the theme: an intervention by Raphael Rosenberg, who has raised the question whether the science of art sources was conceived by the Austrian scholar chronologically or in terms of literary genres; a contribution of Matthew Rampley on the concept of language and aesthetics and a reflection by Hubert Locher on the concept of art in Schlosser.

Fig. 2) The poster of the exhibition at the Institute of History of Art

The exhibition (curated by Friedrich Polleroß and Agatha Rihs) offers to the public some of preserved original archival documents of the scholar, which over time were spread between Vienna and Berne, where one of his assistants, the great and much younger friend Hans R. Hahnloser (1899-1974), has been teaching for years. It was Hahnloser who gave the funeral speech in 1938, as well as the one for the commemoration of the centenary of the birth, in 1966. Besides history of art, two other passions created a strong bound between them: travelling to Italy with their families - documented in the exhibition by a beautiful series of photographs - and playing classical music. They were part of a quartet, in which Hahnloser was a violinist and Schlosser the cellist [5].

The Institute of Art History in Vienna has retained an important part of the archive [6] and the original catalogue of his large library, which originally included 4000 volumes. It is a handwritten notebook of 153 pages, which also includes a collection of ex libris, and is dated 1926. The catalogue distinguishes between 'Authors' and 'Series' (among them, the complete writings of Burckhardt, Croce, Vossler and Wölfflin). The notebook has the significant title of "Bibliotheca selecta. Ein Stück Autobiographie ". (Selected library. A piece of autobiography)

The library was divided into:

• (i) Allgemeine Bibliothek, or the General Library;
• (ii) Kunsthistorische Bibliothek, the art history library. At the time of its break up in the sixties, it was simply referred to as Kunstbibliothek, art library;
• (iii) Bilderapparat (Apparatus of pictures), a collection of 10,000 photos
• (Iv) Notensammlung, the collection of musical scores. At the time of the break up in the sixties, it was simply referred to as Musikbibliothek, music library;
• (V) Instrumentensammlung, the collection of musical instruments.

The Art Library has been dispersed into two parts: 500 volumes were kept at the University of Bern (where they landed via Hahnloser, who taught medieval art between 1934 and 1968 in the Swiss capital). This is the part of the library dedicated to Art Literature, and in particular to what Schlosser called Reiseliteratur (and therefore a collection of texts on travelling to Italian locations). 1500 other art books were sold at an auction in Vienna in September 1961, after the death of the widow. The sale included a 100-page catalogue [7]. In 1962 the music library was auctioned.

Fig. 3) The catalogue of the auction of Julius von Schlosser’s Art Library in 1961

As for the part of the library dedicated to art literature as such, it must be said that the exhibition contains an exceptional document, drawn up in 1910 and, therefore, in the years immediately preceding the publication (from 1914 until 1920) of the eight booklets for students called Materialien zur Quellenkunde der Kunstgeschichte (Materials for the study of the sources of the history of art), which served as the basis for the future major essay on Kunstliteratur (Art Literature) in 1924. The manuscript entitled "Library of ancient Italian writings on art history" included three sections: (i) General; (ii) Topography; (iii) Travel. It listed 670 titles. So, already in 1910, Schlosser had compiled a comprehensive list of sources and initiated a purchasing policy of antique volumes to create a personal basis for study.

The catalogue shows original documents preserved in Vienna and Bern, together with some of the books of the Schlosser collection, today stored in the Swiss capital.

The documents shown in the exhibition include:

• The 1885 manuscript with the essay on "Fundamentals of a system of the philosophy of art on the basis of idealism" (Grundzüge eines kunstphilosophischen Systems auf idealistischer Grundlage) kept in Bern.
• The 1892 article on "The meaning of the sources for the history of art of the modern age", already published in this blog.
• The notebook of a journey in Veneto in 1896, entitled "Iter Veneticum, MDCCCXCVI" (Journey through Veneto), preserved in Vienna.
• A book of 33 pages with a handwritten catalogue of owned books on Veneto and Venice, dated 1896 and entitled "Bibliotheca Veneta", preserved in Vienna.
• A 1896 collection of manuscript materials (about one hundred pages) with an introduction to the study of art history, preserved in Vienna. The brochure of the exhibition noted that these are the first documents available on the subject of Kunstliteratur (Art literature) and specifically dedicated to the fourteenth century.
• The first part of a 1900 collection of photos (on antiquity, architecture and Italy), preserved in Bern.
• The text of the report "Some chapters of the historical doctrine of form in the fine arts" (Einige Capitel aus der historischen Formenlehre der bildenden Künste) in 1901, preserved in Vienna.
• A leather notebook of 1909 with a catalogue of the owned books on Italy: "Bibliotheca Italica. Catalog der in meiner Bibliothek befindlichen Werke über Italien" (Italian Library. Catalogue on the works on Italy which are in my library), preserved in Vienna.
• The already mentioned 20-page manuscript of 1910 entitled: "Verzeichnis einer Bibliothek altitalienischer Schriftquellen zur Kunstgeschichte" (Catalogue of a library of ancient writings on Italian art history), preserved in Vienna.
• The proof reading version of the 1924 essay on Kunstliteratur (Art literature), preserved in Vienna.
• The original manuscript about "Die Wiener Schule" of 1933, which recounts the development of the Vienna school of art from Rudolf von Eitelberger until Ernst Gombrich, preserved in Vienna.
• The original manuscript of "Stilgeschichte und Sprachgeschichte der bildenden Kunst. Ein Rückblick " of 1934. It is the study of the history of style and language in the fine arts, preserved in Vienna.
• The auction catalogue of Schlosser’s art library, prepared by the Heck auction house in Vienna, 1961.

Among the Schlosser books now preserved in Bern, the exhibition includes:

• Giambattista Marino, Dicerie Sacre (Sacre Rumors), Venice, 1626
• Gian Battista Della Porta, La Fisionomia (The Physiognomy), Venice, 1652
• Ottavio Lioni, Ritratti di alcuni celebri pittori (Portraits of some famous painters), 1731
• Descrizione de’cartoni disegnati da Carlo Cignani e de’quadri dipinti da Sebastiano Ricci, posseduti dal Signor Giuseppe Smith (Description of the cartoons designed by Carlo Cignani and of the paintings made by Sebastiano Ricci, owned by Mr. Joseph Smith), Venice, 1749
• Justine von Rosenberg-Orsini, Alticchiero, Padua, 1787
• Pietro Antonio Novelli, Per le auspicate nozze del Marchese Giovanni Salvatico (For the auspicated marriage of the Marquis Giovanni Salvatico), 1834

Schlosser lived in difficult historical times. An Austrian citizen of Italian feelings, he experienced the days of the Great war between Austria and Italy. Great connoisseur of Italy, he became involved on occasions when he had to work with public institutions of fascist Italy, at a time when this was officially unwelcome to the authorities of the so-called First Republic in Vienna (and certainly to his best Italian friend Benedetto Croce). Conservative and pro-German, he embraced in the last years of life the pro-Nazi party and supported the inclusion of Austria in the Third Reich, but at the same time promoted and supported Jewish colleagues and students (the most famous was Ernst Gombrich). He died shortly before Austria was annexed into the Reich.

These events are documented in the exhibition by:

• The handwritten German translation of an interview of Benedetto Croce, published in the Corriere d'Italia on October 13, 1914, in which the Italian philosopher raised the question whether the relationship between the warring parties was marked or not by an irremediable opposition of cultures and provided a negative answer to the question. The text is kept in Vienna.
• The materials in preparation for the official celebrations for the seventy years of the scholar, who also marked his retirement from the university, in 1936. The materials also contain a detailed list of invitees; it included clearly pro-Nazis representatives (like a few Hitler's personal advisers) as well as several Jewish scholars. The catalogue of the exhibition, however, also shows that that the names of many of the latter (including Otto Kurz and Ernst Gombrich) had been pulled out by hand from the list by someone, because they had already left the country.
• A letter of Hahnloser of September 1936 in respect of the publication of the essay on Ghiberti by the Publisher Holbein-Verlag in Basel. The point is that the publishing house belonged to the German Jewish publisher Hermann Loeb, still famous today for having founded Prestel (the art publishing house) in Frankfurt in 1924. Loeb fled Germany for Switzerland in 1935. It is clear that Hahnloser had anti-Semitic feelings and recommended to choose another publisher, but Schlosser (who was himself also not free of anti-Semitic rhetoric) decided nevertheless for Loeb’s publishing house because of his expertise in art history. The essay was published in Basel in 1941, after the death of Schlosser.

Schlosser was a reserved man and left us very few photographs. However, around 2500 slides of his trips by car throughout Europe have remained in Bern. They refer to the journeys he made with Hahloser, between 1923 and 1935. They were accompanied by their wives and in some cases by Hanhloser’s parents. The brochure of the exhibition contains a reproduction of some beautiful photos. In 2005 the University of Bern showed documentation of those trips [8].

Here below you see a picture of the group in Civitavecchia, around 1930. Schlosser is portrayed in the car, next to his second wife, the Bulgarian violinist Neda Ftitscheff (1881-1960), married in 1919. Standing is the father of Hans Hahnloser, Arthur (who was incredibly similar to Thomas Mann, also a frequent traveller to Italy in those days, with contacts to Benedetto Croce).

Fig. 4) Schlosser in Civitavecchia, around 1930.
Source: http://kunstgeschichte.univie.ac.at/institut/ifk-vergangenes0/schlosser-ausstellung/

Fig. 5) Schlosser travelling in Italy.
Source: Michael Thimann, „Die Arbeit des Lesers. Zwei Exlibris des Kunsthistorikers Julius von Schlosser“,
in: Zeitschrift für Ideengeschichte, 2, Heft 1, 2008, p. 95.

NOTES

[1] See: https://www.khm.at/erfahren/forschung/tagung-schlosser/

[2] The exhibition at the Institut für Kunstgeschichte (Garnisongasse 13, Hof 9) will remain open between 6 and 25 October. See: http://kunstgeschichte.univie.ac.at/ueber-uns/institutsnachrichten/23-09-2016-150-geburtstag-von-julius-von-schlosser/

[3] A conference will also be held in Vienna between 27 and April 29, 2017, on the occasion of the two hundred years since the birth of Rudolf von Eitelberger Edelberg.

[4] An interesting 2012 thesis on Kunstliteratur by Johannes Weiss is also available on the internet: http://othes.univie.ac.at/25357/1/2013-01-04_0303173.pdf

[5] See: https://dictionaryofarthistorians.org/schlosserj.htm

[6] See: https://kunstgeschichte.univie.ac.at/institut/institutsarchiv/schlosser/

[7] Kunstbibliothek Professor Julius von Schlosser. Antiquariat V. A. Heck, Vienna, Liste 236, September 1961. KHI, Florenz, Signature: Bibl. 2550; ZI, München, Signature: V-Sc 580/50(2 R

[8] Rihs, Agatha; Kraemer, Harald - Trouvaillen zu Julius von Schlosser [und] Hans R. Hahnloser: aus den Tiefen des Archivs des Instituts für Kunstgeschichte der Universität Bern: eine Ausstellung anlässlich des einhundertjährigen Jubiläums des IKG, Universität Bern. Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Bern, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, 2005.