Otkriti nâs nama samima – Josef Strzygowski i Ljubo Babić

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Ljubo Babić (1890-1974) - one of the pivotal figures in twentieth-century Croatian art and culture - frequently addressed the research and theses of Josef Strzygowski (1862-1941) in his writings on various topics, directly or indirectly. Babić’s interest in the work of the renowned Austrian art historian and theorist primarily revolved around formulating ideas that emphasized the significant role of art in shaping national identity. In essence, Babić’s complex views on the role of art in moulding a distinct artistic expression - as a central and constitutive part of cultural identity - can be traced, among other things, to his contemplation of Josef Strzygowski’s though-provoking yet contentious theories on Croatian preRomanesque art and national cultural heritage in general. This paper investigates Strzygowski’s impact on the comprehension and appreciation of Croatian cultural heritage during the interwar period, i.e. on the overall atmosphere in which a broader discourse emerged on the relationship between artistic centres and peripheries, while the pursuit of national artistic expression began to dominate a major part of the Croatian cultural landscape. Consequently, the paper examines connections between Strzygowski and the Croatian cultural milieu between the two world wars. Finally, Strzygowski’s importance to Babić is highlighted, delineating the aspects of his theoretical work that the Croatian artist, critic, and art historian used to support his own viewpoints. Josef Strzygowski’s influence on Croatian culture was undoubtedly profound. Besides positioning himself as a connoisseur and advocate of Ivan Meštrović’s art, this Viennese scholar centred his interest on art-historical material from Croatia. Despite often eliciting direct counterreactions from the professional community - exemplified by Ljubo Karaman’s early theoretical writings on “ancient Croatian monuments” as a critique of Strzygowski - his focus on “our” material secured him an important place within the national cultural milieu of the time. Ljubo Babić, who was at the peak of his creative prowess in the late 1920s, approached Strzygowski’s work without critical detachment, integrating certain segments of the latter’s assumptions into his own theoretical framework. While direct influence cannot be unequivocally asserted, it is apparent that Babić found substantial support for his formulation of the “our expression” strategy in Strzygowski’s views. Both scholars believed that the characteristics of a specific body of art were crucially determined by the geographical area of its creation, with the national component being a pivotal aspect. Consequently, they embraced the concepts of soil, race, and blood, which makes them apologists of cultural nationalism. The relevant ideas of the distinguished Viennese art historian lent Babić additional confidence in presenting his own thoughts as indisputable and firmly established, thus framing the hypothesis that the Croatian people had inherited distinctive features of artistic production from their ancestral homeland - regarding them as a form of “our expression” in the past. Moreover, Babić endorsed Strzygowski’s call for further scholarly research into the history of Croatian cultural heritage, viewing adherence to the principles of geographical and national predisposition of artistic production as facilitating the consensus on “our expression” in contemporary times. Additionally, he concurred with the suggestion to investigate folk art, incorporating the interpretation of colours on folk costumes into his strategic framework. Through his writings and artistic oeuvre, Ljubo Babić strove to help us “reveal ourselves to ourselves,” and the work of Josef Strzygowski provided significant support in this endeavour. The prominent position of the renowned Viennese art theorist within Croatian culture certainly lent credibility to this support. Therefore, the relationship between Strzygowski and Croatian culture should not be solely construed as a kind of rivalry with Ljubo Karaman or as merely stimulating the formulation and development of a significant theoretical scope within Croatian art history, even if devoid of scholarly foundations. Rather, it can also be understood within the context of cultural nationalism during the Croatian interwar period. Such a perspective reveals that Josef Strzygowski and Ljubo Babić inhabited the same intellectual universe, which played a vital role in shaping modern European culture.