Otto Benesch

Otto Benesch ( born June 29, 1896 in Eben Furth, Lower Austria, † November 16, 1964 in Vienna ) was an Austrian art historian and representative of the Vienna School of Art History. He was decisively influenced by the teachings Max Dvořák and ranks alongside Hans Tietze 's most important successors Dvořák in the so-called humanities method of art history.

Life and work

As the son of the art collector Heinrich Benesch, one of the first and most important promoters of Egon Schiele, was familiar with modern art Otto Benesch from childhood. A personal acquaintance with Schiele left a lasting impression, which was reflected in numerous publications.

Benesch studied art history at the University of Vienna at Max Dvořák and his doctorate in 1921 with a dissertation on " Rembrandt's drawing development." Since 1920, he volunteered at the Art Gallery of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. In 1923 he became assistant and later curator of the collection of the Albertina. Dismissed in 1938 by the Nazi regime, he emigrated to France and England in the United States. Since 1940 he lived in Cambridge (Massachusetts), and worked at Harvard, Princeton and New York. 1947 he was appointed back to Vienna, where he worked as Director of the Albertina and 1962. In 1948 he was also appointed associate professor of art history.

His specialty was the graphic arts, but his diversified interests extended also to historic preservation, art-theoretical and musicological questions. As a focus of his research, the late Gothic art in Austria and southern Germany, the Rembrandt van Rijn's drawings and the Austrian modernity are mentioned. The museum work at the Albertina was an essential part of building a representative collection of modern graphics.

He was buried in the cemetery Hietzing in Vienna.

Publications (selection)

  • The Vienna school of art history, in: Österreichische Rundschau 1920
  • Descriptive catalog of the drawings of the Albertina Graphic Collection, 2 vols, Vienna, 1929-33
  • The painter Albrecht Altdorfer, Vienna 1939
  • A Short History of Art in Austria ( = daily paper library, Vol 1312/13 ), Vienna 1950
  • Egon Schiele as a Draughtsman, Vienna 1950
  • The Drawings of Rembrandt. A Critical and Chronological Catalogue, 6 vols, London 1954-57
  • Collected Writings, 4 vols, New York 1970-73
  • From an Art Historians Workshop, Lucerne, 1979

Bibliography

  • Otto Benesch. List of his writings. Bern 1961.
Ebenfurth Harvard University Hietzinger Cemetery Rudolf Eitelberger Alois Riegl Julius von Schlosser Hans Sedlmayr Moritz Thausing Franz Wickhoff Josef Strzygowski Otto Demus Fritz Novotny Integrated Authority File
626950
de