Andreas Schweigl and the Beginnings of Art History in Moravia
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Zborník príspevkov z Medzinárodného umelecko-historického sympózia SandrArt 2019 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Keywords | historigraphy of art; Enlightenment; 18th century; Central Europe; Moravia; Andreas Schweigl |
| Description | Around the year 1800, several Moravian artists recorded their thoughts and insights in a number of texts that variously combined the traditional literary genre of artist’s biography with artistic topography, art criticism and a historical interpretation of early Moravian art and culture. For most of them, the thinking was rooted in a historical interpretation of the early art and culture of Moravia. They discuss the function of art, artistic ideals, and to some extent the concept of the creative genius, as well as reflecting, directly or indirectly, on the theme of decadence as one stage in the cyclical view of history, in line with the paradigm of the age. The author sets out to compare several texts and in general terms show how artists themselves viewed the importance of art education at the end of the 18th century, how they responded to the changing role of the artist in society, and how they defined artistic ideals and the artist’s social purpose. It is the wider implications of these changes in the artist’s social status, and in the function of art in Moravia and Central Europe generally, that form the primary focus of this study. |