Whither Strukturforschung?

Abstract

This review presents a detailed overview of the main arguments in Ian Verstegen’s The New Vienna School of Art History. It critically engages with several of those arguments and explicates the drawbacks of Hans Sedlmayr’s historical analyses. In addition, it provides further context for Sedlmayr’s NSDAP membership and its repercussions for the members of the New Vienna School. Finally, it clarifies Meyer Schapiro’s position towards Otto Pächt’s idea of ‘national constants’ and the theorization of collective subjectivities by referencing the correspondence and documentation kept in the Meyer Schapiro Collection at Columbia University.

Keywords

• new vienna school
• strukturforschung
• gestalt
• sedlmayr
• pächt
• schapiro