Identity built on myth. Fact and fiction in the foundational narrative of the ‘Cracow School of Art History’ and its relations to Vienna

Abstract

Widely acknowledged as the creator of the first coherent model of art historical practice and theory in Poland, Marian Sokolowski played an essential role in shaping the identity of the discipline. This article explores Sokolowski’s connections to the Vienna School and the impact of his choice of methodological identity on the development of the ‘Cracow School’.

In a curriculum vitae submitted in 1876 to the Jagiellonian University, Sokołowski, soon to be appointed as the first chair of art history in Poland, stated that he had studied ‘art history in Vienna under the supervision of Rudolf Eitelberger and Moritz Thausing’. While unsupported by the archival sources, this alleged mentorship has great symbolic significance. The highly institutionalised character of the ‘Cracow School’, as analysed by Stefan Muthesius, ensured that the founder’s choice of methodological affiliation would remain crucial for the identity of this research environment. The longue durée of relations with Vienna, present sometimes only in the sphere of myth (initiated by Sokołowski), would prove vital in determining the normative characteristics of the self-proclaimed ‘school’.