Zprávy památkové péče 2018, 78(2):115-118 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2018.2.04

The Philosophical Background of Eitelberger's Art

Radim Vondráček

Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze

The beginnings of the Vienna School of Art History are primarily associated with the requirement of exploring original works of art and determining their individual characteristics from individual observation. A study devoted to the philosophical origins of Rudolf Eitelberger's work shows that the new empirically based art of science (Kunstwissenschaft) did not exclude an interest in philosophical aesthetics and art theory. At the beginning of his professional career, Eitelberger devoted himself intensively to the study of German idealist philosophy, especially to the works of George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. He was involved with a circle of young thinkers and writers who made up the important Austrian center of Hegelianism, as illustrated, for example, by his correspondence from the 1830-40's with the philosopher František Tomáš Bratránek (1815-1884). Idealist aestheticism also influenced his early work in the field of artistic criticism. Even though after 1848 Eitelberger began to criticize speculative approaches, he continued to defend the importance of philosophy for university education. At that time, however, he was already inspired by new streams of thought, herbartism, and, above all, positivism, which Eitelberger helped promote in Austria and projected into methods of evolving art science.

Keywords: Vienna School of Art History, Rudolf Eitelberger, František Tomáš Bratránek, art theory, Hegelianism, positivism

Published: June 1, 2018  Show citation