Otto Pächt

Otto Pacht ( born September 7, 1902 in Vienna, † April 17, 1988 ) was an Austrian art historian.

Life

Pächt studied in Vienna art history under Julius von Schlosser and in 1925 received his doctorate with a dissertation on the relationship between image and reproach in the development of medieval history presentation. As a result, he was next to Hans Sedlmayr one of the founders of the art scientific structuralism and outstanding representative of the so-called " New Vienna School of Art History ." In 1936 he emigrated to England. At Oxford he cataloged the manuscript collection of the Bodleian Library and taught at the university. In 1960 he taught in the United States, Princeton, Cambridge and New York. In 1963 he was appointed as Professor of Art History at the University of Vienna. After his retirement in 1972, he edited the catalog of illuminated manuscripts in the Austrian National Library.

Pächt devoted his scientific research and teaching, especially the medieval book illumination and European art of the 15th century. He was friends with, among others Robert Musil and Oskar Kokoschka.

Awards

Publications

• Methodology of the art-historical practice, Munich 1977
• Illumination of the Middle Ages, Munich, 1984; ³ 1989
• Van Eyck, Munich 1989
• Rembrandt, Munich 1991 ² 2005