Alois Riegl in Vienna 1875–1905: An Institutional Biography

327 Pages·2014·18.33 MB·English

by  Diana Reynolds Cordileone

alois riegl in vienna 1875–1905
In Alois Riegl in Vienna 1875–1905: An Institutional Biography, Diana Cordileone
applies standard methods of cultural and intellectual history for close
readings of Riegl’s published texts, several of which are still unavailable in
English. Further, the author compares Riegl’s work to several of the early
works of Friedrich Nietzsche that Riegl is known to have read before 1878.
Using archival and other primary sources this study also illuminates the
institutional conflicts and imperatives that shaped Riegl’s oeuvre. The result
is a multi-layered philosophical, cultural and institutional history of this art
historian’s work of the fin-de-siècle that demonstrates his close relationship to
several of the significant actors in Vienna at the end of the nineteenth century,
an epoch of innovation, culture wars and political uncertainty.
The book is particularly devoted to explaining how Riegl’s theories of art
were shaped by debates outside the purview of the academic art historian. Its
focal point is the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry, where he worked
for 13 years, and it presents a new interpretation of Riegl based upon his early
exposure to Nietzsche.
Diana Reynolds Cordileone studied art history at the
University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and completed her education
at the University of California, San Diego. She is Professor of
History at Point Loma Nazarene University, USA.
StudieS in Art HiStoriogrApHy
Series Editor: Richard Woodfield,
University of Birmingham, UK
The aim of this series is to support and promote the study of the history
and practice of art historical writing focusing on its institutional and
conceptual foundations, from the past to the present day in all areas and
all periods. Besides addressing the major innovators of the past it also
encourages re-thinking ways in which the subject may be written in the
future. It ignores the disciplinary boundaries imposed by the Anglophone
expression ‘art history’ and allows and encourages the full range of enquiry
that encompasses the visual arts in its broadest sense as well as topics
falling within archaeology, anthropology, ethnography and other specialist
disciplines and approaches. It welcomes contributions from young and
established scholars and is aimed at building an expanded audience
for what has hitherto been a much specialised topic of investigation. It
complements the work of the Journal of Art Historiography.
Alois Riegl in Vienna
1875–1905
An Institutional Biography
Diana Reynolds Cordileone
Point Loma Nazarene University, USA
First published 2014 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 2014 Diana Reynolds Cordileone
Diana Reynolds Cordileone has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in anyform or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented,including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system,without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notices..
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to in fringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Cordileone, Diana Reynolds.
Alois Riegl in Vienna 1875-1905 : an institutional biography /
by Diana Reynolds Cordileone.
pages cm. -- (Studies in art historiography)
ISBN 978-1-4094-6665-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. Riegl, Alois, 1858-1905--Criticism and interpretation. 2. Riegl, Alois,
1858-1905. 3. Art historians--Austria--Biography. I. Title.
N7483.R54C67 2013
709.2--dc23
[B]
2013012961
ISBN 9781409466659 (hbk)
ContentS
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
PART I: InTellecTuAl FoundATIons (1875–1885)
1 Nietzsche as Educator 25
2 Positivism as Patriotism in Vienna 49
3 Manufacturing Austria 65
PART II: PoeTIcs And PolITIcs oF ART HIsToRy (1885–1897)
4 Stil-fragen, Or, the Multiple Questions of Style 85
5 Patriotism, Piety and Patrimony 109
6 The Advantages and Disadvantages of (Art) History to Life 151
7 Framing Austrian Identities 177
PART III: TRAnsFoRmATIons (1897–1902)
8 Riegl as Educator 201
9 Affinity, Attentiveness and the Historical Dionysian 217
10 A Museum of His Own 239
11 Dissolution as Salvation 261
Conclusion: The Nietzschean Palimpsest 285
Bibliography 289
Index 311

illuStrAtionS
Frontispiece, Alois Riegl, Archive of the 5.1 Peasant Hausindustrie Exhibition
University of Vienna. at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873,
photograph, 1873. Photo: © MAK –
3.1 Austrian Museum for Art and
Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/
Industry, 1877. Photo: © MAK –
Contemporary Art, Vienna.
Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/
Contemporary Art, Vienna. 6.1 Anonymous Photographer.
German Room by Gabriel von Seidl,
3.2 A Gas Jet in the Shape of a Flower.
1876. From Festband zur ‘Allgemeine
From The Art-Journal Illustrated
Kunst- und Kunstgewerebe Ausstellung
Catalogue of the Industry of all Nations,
alter und neuer deutscher Meister’, 1876.
1851.
Courtesy of Sabine Weiber.
4.1 Rug with Patterns from Nature. From
6.2 Josef von Storck, Renaissance
The Art-Journal Illustrated Catalogue of the
Design, Mitgliedsurkunde der
Industry of all Nations, 1851.
Gesellschaft zur Förderung der
4.2 Arabesque Pattern, line drawing, Kunstgewerbeschule des k.k.
from Stilfragen, 1893. österreichischen Museums,
Vienna, 1870. Photo: © MAK –
4.3 Carved Knife Handle, line drawing,
Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/
from Stilfragen, 1893.
Contemporary Art, Vienna, K.I.14988.
4.4 Carved Bone, line drawing, from
7.1a Empire Interior, a Formal Reception
Stilfragen, 1893.
Room, Vienna c.1800. From Ludwig
4.5a Portion of a Pierced Prow from Hevesi, Österreichishe Kunst im 19.
a Maori Canoe, line drawing, from Jahrhundert, 1903.
Stilfragen, 1893.
7.1b Empire Interior, Writing Room of
4.5b/c Engraving from a Maori Fruit Husk Countess Molly Zichy-Ferraris, Vienna
and Engraving from a Maori Net Weight, c.1830. From Ludwig Hevesi, Österreichishe
line drawing, from Stilfragen, 1893. Kunst im 19. Jahrhundert, 1903.
viii alois riegl in vienna 1875–1905
7.2 Birds’ Heads in Chip-Carved 9.1 Bronze Canteen, engraving,
Technique, line drawing, from Late from Late Roman Art Industry, plate VI,
Roman Art Industry, 1901. 1901.
7.3 Cuneiform Bronze Metalwork, 9.2 Gold Fibula with Garnet Inlay,
photograph, from Late Roman Art engraving, from Late Roman Art
Industry, 1901. Industry, plate IV, 1901.
ACknowledgementS
The ideas in this book first saw the light of day in a doctoral dissertation at the
University of California, San Diego. I wish to thank my faculty adviser, David
S. Luft, for his generous help and guidance in bringing it to completion. The
faculty members of my committee: John Marino, Nicole Tonkovich, Sheldon
Nodelman and David Ringrose all gave excellent support and suggestions for
taking this project to the next level: thank you. My doctoral research in Vienna
was aided by a Fulbright Student Research Grant, and I thank the Austrian
Fulbright Commission for both its early support and the opportunities it
provided for an ongoing friendship with Austria and its people. Access to the
Riegl Nachlaß at the University of Vienna was provided by Hans Aurenhammer
and Artur Rosenauer.
In the years that followed, several colleagues and friends read early versions
or portions of the manuscript at many different times. I wish to especially
thank Alfred Pfabigan of the University of Vienna and Gary Cohen of the
Center for Austrian Studies for their comments on some of the earliest
versions of this manuscript. Later, Richard Woodfield, Carl E. Findlay,
Robert J. Donia, Suzanne Marchand and the anonymous reader for Ashgate
Press provided helpful comments; this book is better for their help. For the
errors that remain in the book, I look forward to discussion, instruction and
corrections from readers and colleagues of good will.
I also wish to thank my university, Point Loma Nazarene, for its support in
several of the following ways: a Wesleyan Center summer scholar grants,
several Research and Special Project grants and a sabbatical. Colleagues
in the Department of History and Political Science Rick Kennedy; Dwayne
Little; and Linda Beail; were good friends, champions and former chairs. I
am also grateful to the Austrian Fulbright Commission for another research
grant to Vienna in 2001.