The Museum Age in Austria-Hungary. Art and empire in the long nineteenth century

Abstract

For the first time, a study has appeared that covers the history of art museums in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the nineteenth century, which includes not only Vienna but also Kraków, Prague, Zagreb and Budapest. In addition to studying their role as public institutions and their involvement in the complex cultural politics of the Habsburg Empire, the three authors of the present volume aim to explore the place of these institutions in the wider history of European museums and collecting. Within the ‘long nineteenth century’, they focus on the period from 1867, when Austria-Hungary formally came into existence as a constitutional monarchy, and 1918, when it collapsed as a consequence of the First World War. The lead author is Matthew Rampley, professor of art history at Masaryk University (Brno). He provides the introduction, entitled ‘Museums and cultural politics in the Habsburg world’, and the first chapter, ‘The museological landscape of Austria-Hungary’, both of which are nourished by, and also provide a framework for, the five following chapters. Two of the five are contributed by Nóra Veszprémi, research fellow at Masaryk University. Her contributions, ‘The rise of the museum professions’ and ‘Principles and practices of display’, are preceded by another from Rampley, ‘Museums and their architecture’, and one by Markian Prokopovych, assistant professor of history at Durham University, entitled ‘Art, municipal programs, and urban agendas’. Prokopovych also wrote the final chapter, ‘Museums and their publics’. An epilogue by Rampley, ‘Modernity and regime’s end’, offers a bridge to his and Veszprémi’s next (currently ongoing) project, entitled Continuity/Rupture: Art and Architecture in Central Europe, 1918–1939, also based at Masaryk University. The three authors previously published Liberalism, Nationalism and Design Reform in the Habsburg Empire: Museums of design, industry and the applied arts (Routledge, 2020).