‘Ideal and material ornament: rethinking the “beginnings” and history of art’

Abstract

Beginning with the work of anthropologist and prehistoric archaeologist Johannes Ranke, the article outlines a series of debates about the ‘beginnings’ of art and ornament in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century in German-speaking culture. Taking place between archaeologists, anthropologists, art historians, and art theorists, these show how ‘primitive’ ornament was an area by means of which scholars attempted to bring the study of art under the protocols of scientific study and negotiated issues of human creativity and agency in relationship to material and technical forces. The article also discusses writings of Gottfried Semper, Alexander Conze, Alois Riegl, and Oscar Montelius.

Keywords

• anthropology
• archaeology
• ornament
• prehistory
• Ranke
• Conze
• Riegl