Time’s Visible Surface Ribes nigrum,common black currant. Raceme enlarged 4.5x. From Art Forms in the Plant World,Karl Blossfeldt (Dover Publications, 1985) Time’s Visible Surface Alois Riegl and the Discourse on History and Temporality in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna MICHAEL GUBSER Wayne State University Press Detroit K K R I T I K German Literary Theory and Cultural Studies Liliane Weissberg, Editor A complete listing of the books in this series can be found online at http://wsupress.wayne.edu © 2006 byWayne State UniversityPress, Detroit, Michigan 48201. All rights are reserved. No partof this bookmaybe reproduced withoutformal permission. Manufactured in the United States of America. (cid:41)(cid:51)(cid:34)(cid:46)(cid:13)(cid:17)(cid:19)(cid:26)(cid:0)(cid:25)(cid:23)(cid:24)(cid:13)(cid:16)(cid:13)(cid:24)(cid:17)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:13)(cid:19)(cid:18)(cid:16)(cid:24)(cid:13)(cid:21)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:0)(cid:41)(cid:51)(cid:34)(cid:46)(cid:13)(cid:17)(cid:16)(cid:26)(cid:0)(cid:16)(cid:13)(cid:24)(cid:17)(cid:20)(cid:19)(cid:13)(cid:19)(cid:18)(cid:16)(cid:24)(cid:13)(cid:16) Libraryof Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gubser, Mike. Time’s visible surface : Alois Riegl and the discourse on historyand temporalityin fin-de-siecle Vienna/ Michael Gubser. p. cm. — (Kritik: German literarytheoryand cultural studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8143-3208-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Riegl, Alois, 1858–1905—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Art—Historiography. 3. Artand history. 4. Space and time in art. 5. Aesthetics, Austrian—19th century. I. Title: Alois Riegl and the discourse on historyand temporalityin fin-de-siecle Vienna. II. Title. III. Kritik(Detroit, Mich.) N7483.R54G83 2006 707’.2’2—dc22 2005017433 ∞The paperused in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard forInformation Sciences—Permanence of Paper forPrinted LibraryMaterials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. eISBN 978-0-8143-3746-2 Dedicated to my mother, father, and sister This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Alois Riegl and Fin-de-Siècle Vienna 1 1. History, Temporality, and the Calendar 25 PART 1. Wellenberg und Wellenthal: History and Time in Fin-de-Siècle Austrian Thought 51 2. Franz Brentano and the In-existence of Time 61 3. Theodor von Sickel and the Institute for Austrian Historical Research 77 4. Max Büdinger’s Universal History 89 5. Robert Zimmermann’s Philosophical Aesthetics 97 vii CONTENTS 6. Moritz Thausing and the Science of Art History 105 7. Franz Wickhoff, Alois Riegl, and the Structure of Art History 115 PART 2. Temporality and History in Riegl’s Work 133 8. History and the Perception of Monuments 141 9. Temporality in Visible Form 151 10. Seeing Time in The Group Portraiture of Holland 165 11. The Anthropological Autonomy of Art 179 12. Rhythm and Temporality in Problems of Style and Late Roman Art Industry 187 Conclusion 201 Notes 219 Bibliography 275 Index 295 viii Acknowledgments While writing this book,I have incurred debts of gratitude to many people and organizations. Numerous libraries, archives, and universities assisted me in my research. In Austria, the Institut für Kunstgeschichte at the University of Vienna, where I received tremendous assistance from Professor Hans Aurenhammer, and the Forschungsstelle für öster- reichische Philosophie in Graz were open during the summer, helpful in their advice, and efficient in making resources available. St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes School in Alexandria, Virginia, where I taught history between 1998 and 2001, generously provided me with an Association of Parents and Teachers Grant to help fund a research trip to Austria in the summer of 1999. And my colleagues in Virginia and at the Waring School in Beverly, Massachusetts, where I taught between 2001 and 2003, provided intellectual encouragement as I wrote my dissertation and then revised it into this book. Of course, many of my debts are of a more personal nature. I do not know if I would have even embarked on the project had it not been for the support of several friends in Berkeley. Edouard Servan-Schreiber, Mike Signer, and Ania Wertz provided friendship and encouragement at a time when they were sorely needed. As I hunkered down to write in Virginia, Jeremy Baguyos, Jean Hunt, and Boyd White picked up where my Berkeley colleagues left off; they offered comradeship as well as countless worthy excuses for not working. This account of distraction would be incomplete without congratulating my high school students in ix