Max Eisler

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Max Eisler (born March 17, 1881 in Boskowitz , † December 8, 1937 in Vienna ) was an Austrian art historian . He was particularly interested in the history of art in Vienna, the history of art in the Netherlands as well as modern art and the contemporary arts and crafts .

life and work

Max Eisler grew up as the son of a Jewish merchant in Boskowitz in Bohemia; after attending grammar school in Brno , he studied art history (as a student of Josef Strzygowski ) and history at the University of Vienna from 1901 to 1901 . In 1904 he received his doctorate in history from the University of Vienna. He then worked as a teacher at the secondary school in Iglau . In 1911/12 he stayed at the Universities of Leiden and Utrecht. In 1912 he married Elsa Tieber and in the same year was a founding member of the Austrian Werkbund . In 1914 he completed his habilitation at the University of Vienna, where he became a private lecturer in 1915 and an associate professor for modern art history in 1919.

In numerous publications he dealt with Dutch art history and the architecture and living culture of Vienna. The publication of the Historical Atlas of the Vienna Cityscape (1919), which for the first time contains an annotated collection of the historical plans of Vienna in large-format reproductions, is of particular importance for the history of Vienna . In addition, there are his facsimile works Das Barocke Wien. Historical Atlas of Vienna Views (1925), Das bürgerliche Wien. Historical atlas of the Vienna cityscape (1926) and bourgeois Vienna 1770-1860. Historical atlas of the cityscapes of Vienna (1929). Another area was modern art, so he published about Oskar Strnad , Josef Frank and Gustav Klimt . He also works in the field of Jewish art history: in 1910 he published the book Von Jewish Kunst (Josef Israels) . In 1924/25 he edited the Jewish illustrated monthly Das Zelt together with the writer Eugen Hoeflich and the architect Josef Hahn . As a regular contributor to the Viennese Jewish family paper Menorah, he published about new synagogues in Amsterdam , Plauen , Zilina and Vienna-Hietzing and about Jewish artists such as Jehudo Epstein , Josef Floch , Georg Merkel and Abel Pann . He described his impressions of a long trip to Palestine in 1936 in slide shows, in the Neue Wiener Tagblatt and in the Neue Welt . Eisler was involved in numerous social and cultural Jewish associations and was a member of the board of the unity feed-out association and the orphanage in Baden . As a member of the Truth Lodge of the B'nai B'rith , he lectured regularly. He was also a member of the historical commission of the Vienna Israelitische Kultusgemeinde , but criticized their art policy and the state of religious education.

Eisler's personality combined orthodox life practice, social commitment and scientific work in his specialist area in a unique way . He played a role in the Zionist movement and was a sponsor of the Jerusalem University . His family fled to South and North America in 1938 after his death, and his son Martin Eisler (1913–1977) became one of the most famous furniture designers of Brazilian modernism.

Publications (selection)

  • Contributions to the history of Bruno von Schauenburg. Dissertation Vienna 1904 (printed as the story of Bruno von Schauenburg ). In: Journal of the German Association for the History of Moravia and Silesia 8, 1904 - 12, 1908.
  • From Jewish Art (Joseph Israels). A lecture . Jewish publishing house, Cologne / Leipzig 1910.
  • History of a Dutch cityscape (= work of the KK Art History Institute of the University of Vienna 1). Nijhoff, The Hague 1914.
  • Austrian work culture . 1916.
  • Historical atlas of the Vienna cityscape . 1919.
  • Gustav Klimt . 1920.
  • Old Delft . 1923.
  • Baroque Vienna. Historical atlas of the Vienna views . 1925.
  • Bourgeois Vienna. Historical atlas of the Vienna cityscape . 1926.
  • Old Rembrandt . 1927.
  • Anton Hanak . 1921.
  • Otto Prutscher . 1925.
  • Bourgeois Vienna 1770-1860. Historical atlas of Vienna's cityscapes . 1929.
  • Architects Ing. Otto and Karl Kohn , Prague . Waldes Verlag, Bratislava 1931.
  • Oskar Strnad . 1936.

literature

  • Susanne Blumesberger, Michael Doppelhofer, Gabriele Mauthe: Handbook of Austrian authors of Jewish origin from the 18th to the 20th century. Edited by the Austrian National Library. Volume 1: A-I. KG Saur, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-598-11545-8 , p. 268.
  • Evelyn Adunka: Max Eisler. Viennese art historian and journalist between orthodox life practice, social commitment and academic excellence . Leipzig, Hentrich & Hentrich, 2018, ISBN 978-3-95565-281-4 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Eisler, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian art historian
DATE OF BIRTH March 17, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Boskowitz
DATE OF DEATH December 8, 1937
Place of death Vienna