Gudrun Danzer on the art system in Graz, 1865−1918

Together with the Department of Art History of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana and Austrian Cultural Forum we cordially invite you to attend two lectures by Austrian art historian Gudrun Danzer as part of this year Art Exhibiting in Slovenia, from the Early 19th Century to Today seminar.

The Art System in Graz from the Founding of the Styrian Art Society in 1865 until the End of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, part I
Monday, 4 December 2017, 7 pm,  Faculty of Arts (room 343), Aškerčeva 2, Ljubljana

In Graz, a second-order city in the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy, during the second half of the 19th century, the bourgeoisie became wealthy through industrialisation and gradually started to dominate cultural life. One of their means of doing so was founding societies – such as the Styrian Art Society (Steiermärkischer Kunstverein) in 1865. Though this society remained dependant from the Austrian Art Society in Vienna (Österreichischer Kunstverein, founded in 1850) it played an important role in the art scene of Graz. Its exhibitions were the only possibility for local artists to show their work to a general public. Its activities and implications with other cultural institutions in the city will be explained – such as those with the art school (Ständische Zeichenakademie), the museum (Landesmuseum Joanneum), or the university (Karl Franzens Universität). They laid the groundwork for the reforms in the local art scene to come around the turn of the century.

The Art System in Graz from the Founding of the Styrian Art Society in 1865 until the End of the Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy in 1918, part II
Tuesday, 5 December 2017, 7 pm,  Faculty of Arts (room 343), Aškerčeva 2, Ljubljana

The lecture will concentrate on the reforms and break-ups within the art-scene of Graz around 1900 and it will look on its development until 1918. A new museum's building was raised and opened in 1895 for the collections of cultural history and applied arts within the Joanneum (Culturhistorisches und Kunstgewerbemuseum). The same building exhibited the Joanneum's collection of paintings (Landesbildergalerie). The art school was reorganized (the Ständische Zeichnungsakademie changed into the Landeskunstschule) and two teachers were appointed from abroad (from Germany, although they were Austrians), namely Alfred von Schrötter and Alfred Zoff. Shortly before and after the turn of the century two artists' societies were founded, complementing the work of the Kunstverein – one more conservative, the other with a penchant for progress (Verein bildender Künstler Steiermarks and Grazer Künstlerbund). Graz saw its first art scandals discussed energetically by newspapers of varying ideological orientation. With the approach of World War I the political circumstances in Graz changed, with the emergence and rise of strong German nationalist thought. A testament to this can be found, for example, in the fact that many of the artists preferred German Munich for their studies rather than polyethnic Vienna.

Gudrun Danzer, art historian, is a curator at the Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum, where she is responsible for the collection of paintings and sculptures (from 1800 until today). She authored several exhibitions and catalogues concerning this collection; in 2014 her exhibition and catalogue Towards Modernity? Paul Schad-Rossa and the Arts in Graz (Aufbruch in die Moderne? Paul Schad-Rossa und die Kunst in Graz) focussed on different actors and controversial aspects of the art scene in Graz around 1900.

MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

Organized by: Igor Zabel Association for Culture and Theory; Department of Art History, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana
Supported by: Austrian Cultural Forum, Ljubljana, ERSTE Foundation