RIHA Journal

0325 "Barbara Radziwiłł" and "Princess Tarakanova" at the 1867 Exposition Universelle

Maria Chernysheva — 2025-10-13

At the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris, a competition for public sympathy unfolded within the Russian section between two paintings – Józef Simmler’s The Death of Barbara Radziwiłł and Konstantin Flavitsky’s Princess Tarakanova. Flavitsky worked in Saint Petersburg, while Simmler was based in Warsaw, in the so-called Kingdom of Poland (commonly known as Congress Poland), then part of the Russian Empire. This paper examines how their depictions of beautiful, dying women reflected the collective memory and political concerns of the Polish and Russian nations. Additionally, by drawing on archival documents, it investigates the selection and censorship of paintings for the Russian section of the Exposition Universelle. It also analyzes French critics’ responses to Barbara Radziwiłł and Princess Tarakanova. In doing so, the paper traces how the reception of these works evolved across various national contexts.

Vorwort der Gastherausgeber:innen

Ruth Hanisch — 2025-09-24

Monographs on architects constitute an established and largely unquestioned format within architectural scholarship. This special issue examines the diverse motivations behind the production of such publications, as well as the sources, media, and modes of presentation they employ, with a focus on case studies from Central Europe. It brings together a selection of contributions from the conference "Architekt:innen-Monographien – Potentiale, Grenzen, Alternativen", held at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna on 23 September 2021.

0332 Frühe Schinkel-Monographien

Elke Katharina Wittich — 2025-09-24

This article examines German architectural monographs from the first half of the nineteenth century, using the example of the Prussian state architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel. While tributes to architects in the generation preceding Schinkel were typically limited to posthumous obituaries, by the time of the post-Napoleonic bourgeois transformation and nation formation after the Congress of Vienna, an architect like Schinkel could already expect extensive public recognition in journals during his lifetime, from both art historians and professional peers. These writings clearly also served as a means of assessing national cultural achievement in the representative sphere of the arts.

In the Vormärz period, motifs and narrative strategies drawn from Romantic literature were employed to promote a bourgeois ideal of the artist – an ideal that left a particularly strong mark on representations of Schinkel. The architect was already perceived during his lifetime more as an autonomous artist than as a Prussian civil servant, even though he ascended through all ranks of state service over several decades, ultimately becoming Oberlandesbaudirektor (Director of Public Works), a position from which he significantly shaped architecture throughout Prussia. Moreover, the early monographs on Schinkel were apparently imbued with historical-philosophical ideas concerning the transhistorical significance of his artistry.

Architekt:innen-Monographien. Kanonisierung, Kontextualisierung, Kritik

Inhaltsverzeichnis — 2025-09-24

Monographs on architects are a well-established and largely unquestioned format within the academic discipline of architectural history. This special issue examines the various motivations behind the writing of such works, along with the sources, media, and modes of presentation they employ, drawing on case studies from Central Europe. At the heart of this inquiry lies the question of who is considered 'worthy' of a monograph—an issue shaped by hegemonies of gender, origin, and religion. Ultimately, these investigations prompt a broader reflection on the processes through which the architectural canon is constructed.

0326 Architekt:innen-Monographien. Zur Revision eines wissenschaftlichen Publikationsformats

Ruth Hanisch — 2025-09-24

This article examines the origins of the monograph as a publication format dedicated to individual architects and explores how such person-centered narratives in architectural history are, or might be, written today in light of contemporary concerns such as gender equality and hegemonic discourses, including those addressed in postcolonial critique. Originally conceived as a means of honouring exclusively male and European architects and artists, the diversity among the authors of these publications was also very limited in the early days. The article poses critical questions: Who is deemed worthy of a monograph and thereby integrated into the architectural canon? What values and hierarchies are reinforced through such recognition? What roles do the various actors involved – the monograph’s author, those working in archives, collections, and publishing houses – play in shaping these narratives? The article offers a critical reassessment of the monograph as a traditional scholarly format, while also highlighting its potential to support a more interconnected and contextually grounded approach to architectural historiography.

0334 Architekt:innen-Monographien im Residenz Verlag

Astrid Graf-Wintersberger — 2025-09-24

Astrid Graf-Wintersberger im Gespräch mit Richard Kurdiovsky

The following interview, conducted by Richard Kurdiovsky in June and July 2022 with Astrid Graf-Wintersberger – editor at Residenz Verlag, Salzburg, from 1987 and its programme director until 2006, as well as co-editor of the publisher’s 2006 anniversary Festschrift – aims, in the spirit of oral history, to provide insights and information on monographs on architects from the perspective of a publishing house. This perspective may be shaped by different determining factors than those that govern the seemingly objective realm of academic research. The intention and expectation are that this text will serve as a contemporary document: both as a source and a stimulus for future research. It addresses questions regarding the role of publishers in the academic process and in cultural policy, in the public dissemination of architects through the medium of the art book (particularly for a broader audience), in the formation of awareness, and ultimately, in the shaping of the art historical canon.

0330 Komplexe Beziehungen. Notizen zu Biographie und Werk von Friedl Dicker-Brandeis

Stefanie Kitzberger — 2025-09-24

This article discusses the methodological approaches for writing a monograph that links the life and work of an individual engaged in the arts, using the example of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis (1898–1944). It advocates for a productive interweaving of biographical construction and work-centered study, critically reflecting on the diversity of the textual, visual and material sources and their varying availability, condition, and framing. Through selected life stages and exemplary analyses of her work, the article explores the complex interrelations between the societal conditions that shaped Dicker-Brandeis’s work as a Jewish artist, female architect, and committed leftist intellectual up to her deportation, and her ways to position herself within, and at times against, these categorizations. In doing so, it brings together perspectives from critical biographical research with a reading of the politics of artistic practice.

0331 Writing a Biography of a Missing Character: Friedrich Weinwurm (1885–1942?)

Henrieta Moravčíková — 2025-09-24

This article introduces the life and work of Friedrich Weinwurm (1895–1942?), an architect who played a pivotal role in shaping interwar architecture in Slovakia but has remained largely absent from scholarly discourse. It outlines the methods employed in investigating his biography and oeuvre, and provides a critical overview of both key and peripheral sources, highlighting their interconnections. The findings are situated within both the broader historical context and the current state of knowledge. Furthermore, the article explains the circumstances that motivated the author to prepare the monograph Friedrich Weinwurm Architect (Bratislava, 2014), situating it in relation to other monographic studies on Slovak architects active during the first half of the 20th century.

0328 Forschung als Fortschreibung von Selbstnarrativen?

Marcel Bois — 2025-09-24

The Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897–2000) remained professionally and politically active well into old age. Nevertheless, scholarly research on her life and work has largely focused on the period before 1945, particularly on two relatively short phases: her early professional years in Red Vienna (1920–1925) and her work for the New Frankfurt public housing programme (1926–1930). This article examines how this narrowed representation of Schütte-Lihotzky’s life came into being and argues that she herself played a significant role in shaping it. Beginning in the 1970s, through her publications and media presence, she actively contributed to the construction of the image that still dominates scholarly discourse today. The article traces the development and influence of this autobiographical narrative and highlights the resulting blind spots in the existing body of research on Schütte-Lihotzky.

0333 Eine Architektenmonographie als Abrechnung

Ruth Hanisch — 2025-09-24

Otto Wagner was already honoured with a monograph during his lifetime. What may at first glance appear to be a tribute to the architect and his life’s work by the well-known cultural journalist Joseph August Lux reveals itself, in the context of the author’s other writings, as a relatively undisguised attack on the cultural establishment of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and its art policies. In his Wagner monograph, Lux elaborated on the theme of the artist suffering from the incomprehension of those in power – a motif he had previously developed in several of his novels. Lux too, despite the wide circulation of his books, saw himself as a victim of cultural policy, and thus as a kindred interpreter of Wagner’s creative work and suffering.

0329 Das wechselseitige Verhältnis von Architektur, Medien und Politik: Hans Scharoun 1933–1945

Waltraud P. Indrist — 2025-09-24

As a methodological and critical response to the concept of the 'complete œuvre', this article advocates for an alternative approach: the focused analysis of a specific historical moment. Such an approach allows for a depth of engagement that is often unattainable when considering an artist’s work in its entirety. Accordingly, this study examines the complex interplay between architecture, media, and politics in the work of modernist architect Hans Scharoun during the period 1933 to 1945. The resulting analysis yields new insights, including the identification of additional artefacts – particularly performative architectural photographs – that offer a more nuanced understanding of Scharoun’s practice and position during the years of political oppression.

0327 Leben und Werk, Gattung und Geschichte

Sarah Herbe — 2025-09-24

How legitimate is it to use the works of a biographical subject as a source for their life story when writing a biography, and should biographies themselves be used to interpret the works? This paper examines the role of biography in literary studies from three perspectives. First, the term 'biography' is discussed as a designation for a literary genre, addressing questions of biographical worthiness and the terminological and conceptual expansion towards Life Writing in the late 20th century. A brief historical overview of biographical approaches in literary studies follows, providing insight into when and in which literary-theoretical frameworks information about the lives of authors began to be used in the interpretation of their works, and when biographical readings receded into the background. Finally, the paper explores biographies and Life Writing as a subject of research in the 21st century.

0323 How to Write a More Global, More Inclusive History of Art?

Éric de Chassey — 2025-04-16

Since its beginnings, art history has been torn between a tendency to remain inside local or national boundaries and a more transnational orientation; it has also veered between addressing only the creations of well-recognized white European male solitary artists and assessing the importance of female, anonymous, or collective creators of less highly prized objects-images. The long overdue process of writing art histories that are more global (less European-centered) and more inclusive (less focused on overprized masterpieces) is underway. For professional art historians, the multiplicity of narratives thus offered can be a blessing. For a more general public, though, as well as students and maybe even many professionals it still clashes with an implied master narrative that has been left barely untouched. The necessity for a new master narrative that meets the standards of contemporary scholarly research leads to pressing questions: How do we write it? Who will write it? Is it worth trying?

0321 Unauthorized Plaster Casts at the Louvre's Atelier de Moulage under the Direction of Eugène-Denis Arrondelle (1880–1907)

Milena Gallipoli — 2025-03-31

This article investigates the production of plaster casts at the Atelier de Moulage du Musée du Louvre under the direction of moulder and sculptor Eugène-Denis Arrondelle between 1880 and 1907. This chef d’atelier engaged in dubious practices, producing casts to which patinas were added without authorization, or selling casts made using the resources of the Louvre workshop as products of his private studio. Some of Arrondelle’s unauthorized surmoulages could even be considered forgeries when he marketed them as direct casts of Louvre artworks. As a manufacturer of plaster casts, the Louvre thus was unwittingly exposed to competition with its own head of workshop. This case study allows us to explore the notion of authorship and authenticity in plaster casts and to highlight how commercial dynamics affected these concepts.

0322 Books, Buildings, and Construction Techniques

Cristiano Guarneri — 2025-04-13

This paper proposes a methodological model for reconstructing the architectural knowledge present in Dubrovnik during the renovations that followed the earthquake of 1667. Such renovations are seen as a manifestation of both theoretical and practical architectural knowledge, echoing across various sources and evident in the buildings themselves. The authors advocate for a comprehensive approach that integrates the "know-what" of architectural treatises with the "know-how" of sources such as building accounts (libri della fabbrica). Furthermore, they aim to enrich the understanding of Ragusan construction practices by exploring the circulation of knowledge among different construction sites in Dubrovnik and by comparing them with those cultivated in Rome and Venice. This will shed light on the circulation of architectural knowledge, spatial concepts, and decorative styles between Italy and the eastern coast of the Adriatic.

0324 Giuseppe Pesci: New Findings on a Little-Known Eighteenth-Century Painter and Draughtsman

Augusto Russo — 2025-06-25

The essay presents new material on the little-known 18th century Roman painter Giuseppe Pesci (or Pesce; b. 1710), almost certainly the son of the more famous Girolamo, who was a pupil of Carlo Maratti and Francesco Trevisani. As from the 1750s, Giuseppe worked in Naples and in 1757 painted a Madonna and Child in wax technique for Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero, a work that is now in the Sansevero Chapel Museum. His early activity is almost entirely unknown, with the exception of a few paintings destined for patrons in the Marche region and in particular for San Severino Marche. This study reveals the painter's unexpected expertise in anatomical illustration, as evidenced by the commission from the physician Gaetano Petrioli, who used Pesci's drawings in 1748 and 1750 for his publications dedicated to Bartolomeo Eustachio's famous anatomical plates. In addition, attention is drawn to two autograph drawings by Pesci, now in London, which reveal his skill as a copyist of ancient and modern statues.

0319 Transparent Paper as a Medium of Copying and Design in the Early Modern Architectural Workshop

Anna Bortolozzi — 2025-01-13

This article explores the use and function of the lucido technique in architectural workshops from the Renaissance through the late eighteenth century. By examining evidence from written sources and key drawing collections, the study compares the copying practices of architects with those of artists. The findings reveal that transparent paper was not appreciated as a copying medium in Europe’s architectural workshops until the mid-eighteenth century. When employed, transparent paper was primarily used for copying figure and ornamental drawings that were challenging to transfer using the pricking technique. The paper argues that the marginalization of transparent paper in architectural practice was possibly due to the coating process and the characteristics of the substances employed – vegetable oils and resins – which were incompatible with the working environment of architects. It was only with the commercialization of machine-made wove transparent paper in the early nineteenth century that architects and engineers began to systematically adopt this medium.

0320 "Rappresentarsi tutto come enigma"

Giuseppe Peterlini — 2024-12-20

Between 1910 and 1920, Giorgio de Chirico broke with the traditional conventions of painting in order to visualize Friedrich Nietzsche’s concepts of the meaninglessness of existence, appearance and the subjectivity of reality, without, however, abandoning figuration. According to de Chirico, the new art had to free itself from the anthropocentrism that had determined its course, to "see everything, even man, as a thing". The aim of this paper is to investigate whether and how the concept of the meaningless and the enigma of life are also thematised and expressed in de Chirico’s portraiture of the 1910s. The hypothesis is that the artist deliberately undermines the generally agreed principle of pictorial illusion. By thematizing the material support, he reveals its seemingly real appearance as fictitious and thus creates an irresolvable visible paradox, as in the Piazze d’Italia and the Metaphysical Interiors of the same period.

0316 Almada Negreiros and Le Corbusier. Parallel Methodologies and Critical Reception

Simão Palmeirim — 2024-09-25

The French-Swiss artist and architect Le Corbusier (1887–1965) created a system for architects and engineers to humanize the metric system, paving the way for a new form of architecture. The Portuguese artist José de Almada Negreiros (1893–1970) developed a multifaceted literary and artistic practice, progressively constructing a theory on the relation between art and geometry. There are parallels between these two artists in the way they devoted themselves to geometry and developed a theory with a universalistic approach that extended beyond their artistic production. Le Corbusier's international recognition has led to extensive research and dissemination of his works, whereas Almada's theoretical studies on geometry and art have only recently been the object of systematic research. Recently found documents in Almada's estate shed new light on the author's knowledge of Le Corbusier's Le Modulor, and his critical reception of such work. This paper reveals these documents and examines them in depth to identify both parallels and a structural, theoretical divergence between these authors.

0315 On the Presence and Absence of Images

Lavinia Amenduni — 2024-08-02

Starting from the presence of a painting by Aimé Morot among the slide collection of Charles Lang Freer, a collection otherwise devoted to modern American painters and Asian art, the essay traces back the origin of this slide to the collection of Ernest Fenollosa and untangles the documentation on how his slides found their home in the Freer Archives in Washington, D.C. Fenollosa’s use of this slide to juxtapose ancient Japanese art and modern French painting is a starting point for reflecting on the role that the presence – or absence – of images played in printed texts as opposed to lectures, and how that in turn fueled the tendency towards stylistic comparisons. Lastly, the position of lantern slides as a tool that was once indispensable to art history, and now, in the digital era, becomes a historical and material object to be studied as such, allows us to reflect on one of the many epistemological shifts that we face as art historians.