Kurt Erdmann
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Kurt Erdmann (9 September 1901, in
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
– 30 September 1964, in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
) was a German art historian who specialized in
Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...
and
Islamic Art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...
. He is best known for his scientific work on the history of the
Oriental rug An oriental rug is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes and produced in " Oriental countries" for home use, local sale, and export. Oriental carpets can be pile woven or flat woven without pile, using v ...
, which he established as a subspecialty within his discipline. From 1958 to 1964, Erdmann served as the director of the
Pergamon Museum The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of German Emperor Wilhelm II according to plans by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann in Stripped Clas ...
, Berlin. He was one of the protagonists of the "Berlin School" of Islamic art history.


Life

Erdmann started studying German literature in 1919, but soon developed a deeper interest in European art history. His PhD thesis in 1927, tutored by
Erwin Panofsky Erwin Panofsky (March 30, 1892 in Hannover – March 14, 1968 in Princeton, New Jersey) was a German-Jewish art historian, whose academic career was pursued mostly in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime. Panofsky's work represents a high ...
, was about European architecture. He then went on to an apprenticeship at the State Museum in Berlin, where he was invited by
Friedrich Sarre Friedrich Paul Theodor Sarre (22 June 1865, in Berlin – 31 May 1945, in Neubabelsberg) was a German Orientalist, archaeologist and art historian who amassed a collection of Islamic art. In 1895-96, inspired by Carl Humann Carl Humann (first na ...
to join the work on his publication, together with Hermann Trenkwald, about ancient oriental carpets. Erdmann's scientific interest remained with oriental rugs throughout his entire career. From 1958 until 1964, Erdmann was Head of the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, a department of the State Museums of Berlin, today the
Pergamon Museum The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of German Emperor Wilhelm II according to plans by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann in Stripped Clas ...
. He also worked as a professor at the universities of
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
,
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
,
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
, and
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
(1951–1957). Erdmann was a member of the
German Archaeological Institute The German Archaeological Institute (german: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, ''DAI'') is a research institute in the field of archaeology (and other related fields). The DAI is a "federal agency" under the Federal Foreign Office of Germany ...
. As Head of the Berlin Pergamon Museum, he was responsible for the reconstruction of the Berlin museum collections after World War II. The erection of the Berlin Wall further disrupted the collections of the museums of the divided city. Erdmann worked on the planning for the new Museum of Islamic Art, then in Dahlem,
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, until his death.


Work

Kurt Erdmann was the fourth in a succession of directors of the Museum of Islamic Art, now the
Pergamon Museum The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of German Emperor Wilhelm II according to plans by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann in Stripped Clas ...
,
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
. Established by
Wilhelm von Bode Wilhelm von Bode (10 December 1845 – 1 March 1929) was a German art historian and museum curator. Born Arnold Wilhelm Bode in Calvörde, he was ennobled in 1913. He was the creator and first curator of the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, now c ...
, whose work was continued by
Friedrich Sarre Friedrich Paul Theodor Sarre (22 June 1865, in Berlin – 31 May 1945, in Neubabelsberg) was a German Orientalist, archaeologist and art historian who amassed a collection of Islamic art. In 1895-96, inspired by Carl Humann Carl Humann (first na ...
and
Ernst Kühnel Ernst Kühnel (1882−1964) was a German art historian who specialized in Islamic art. He was notable for his research on the connection between Islamic and Coptic art, particularly in textiles. Kühnel served as director of the Museum of Islamic ...
, they were the protagonists of the "Berlin School" of the History of Islamic Art. This scientific school developed the ''"
terminus ante quem ''Terminus post quem'' ("limit after which", sometimes abbreviated to TPQ) and ''terminus ante quem'' ("limit before which", abbreviated to TAQ) specify the known limits of dating for events or items.. A ''terminus post quem'' is the earliest da ...
"'' dating method, based on reproductions of
Oriental carpets in Renaissance painting Carpets of Middle-Eastern origin, either from Anatolia, Persia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Levant, the Mamluk state of Egypt or Northern Africa, were used as decorative features in Western European paintings from the 14th century onwards. Mo ...
. Erdmann was the first to describe the "four social layers" of carpet production (nomadic, village, town and court manufacture). He recognized the traditions of village and nomad carpet designs as a distinct artistic tradition on its own, and described the process of stylization by which, over time, elaborate manufactory designs and patterns were integrated into the village and nomadic weaving traditions. Until Erdmann published his studies, art historians influenced by the nineteenth century "Vienna School" around
Alois Riegl Alois Riegl (14 January 1858, Linz – 17 June 1905, Vienna) was an Austrian art historian, and is considered a member of the Vienna School of Art History. He was one of the major figures in the establishment of art history as a self-sufficient a ...
used to understand the process of pattern migration from court and town to village and nomad as a degeneration. Consequently, art historians focused more on the elaborate manufactory rug designs, which they saw as the most authentic. Erdmann was among the first to draw attention to the village, tribal, and nomadic rugs as a distinct and genuine form of artistic expression. Erdmann also established the structural analysis as a means to determine the historical framework of rug weaving traditions within the Islamic world. The replacement of floral and foliate ornaments by geometrical designs, and the substitution of the earlier "infinite repeat" by large, centered compositions of ornaments, occurring during the turn between the fifteenth and sixteenth century was first described by Erdmann, and termed the "pattern", or "carpet design revolution". While oriental rugs and Sasanian art were his two main fields of interest, Erdmann also worked on a variety of other subjects, including Achaemenid art, and Turkish roadside inn architecture. His work at the Berlin museum resulted in publications on groups and single works of pre-Islamic and Islamic art, including detailed descriptions of acquisitions made by the Berlin Museum. Erdmanns books are still cited by present-time textbooks on oriental rugs.


Major publications


English

* ''Oriental Carpets: An Essay on their History''. New York, 1960 * Carpets East Carpets West. ''Saudi Aramco World'', 1965, p. 8–9. * ''Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets''. London, 1970. * ''The History of the Early Turkish Carpet''. London, 1977


German

* "Persische Teppiche der Safawidenzeit." ''Pantheon '' Nr. 5, 1932, p. 227–231 * "Die sasanidischen Jagdschalen. Untersuchungen zur Entwicklung der iranischen Edelmetallkunst unter den Sasaniden." ''Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen '' Nr. 57, 1936, p. 193–232. * "Eine unbekannte sasanidische Jagdschale." ''Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen'', Nr. 59, 1938, p. 209–217. * Zur Chronologie der sasanidischen Jagdschalen. ''ZDMG '' Nr. 97, 1943, p. 239–283. * "Das Datum des Tāḳ-i Bustān." ''Ars Islamica'' Nr. 4, 1937, p. 79–97. * "Zur Deutung der iranischen Felsreliefs." '' Forschungen und Fortschritte'' Nr. 18, 1942, p. 209–211. * "Sasanidische Felsreliefs — Römische Historienreliefs." ''Antike und Abendland '' Nr. 3, de Gruyter, 1948 * "Die Entwicklung der sassanidischen Krone." ''Ars Islamica '' Nr. 15/16, 1951, p. 87–123 * ''Der türkische Teppich des 15. Jahrhunderts''. Istanbul 1954. Written in German and Turkish * with Hanna Erdmann: ''Das anatolische Karavansaray des 13. Jahrhunderts''. Gebrüder Mann, Berlin 1976 * "Die universalgeschichtliche Stellung der sasanidischen Kunst." ''Saeculum '' Nr.1, 1950, p. 508–534 * ''Die Kunst Irans: Zur Zeit der Sasaniden''. Florian Kupferberg, Berlin 1943; 2nd ed. Kupferberg Verlag, Mainz 1969. * "Persepolis: Daten und Deutungen." MDOG zu Berlin 92, 1960, p. 31–47. * "Die Keramik von Afrasiyab." ''Berliner Museen'' Nr. 63, 1942, p. 18–28; * "Islamische Bergkristallarbeiten." ''Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen'' Nr. 61, 1940, p. 125–146; * "Neue islamische Bergkristalle." ''Ars Orientalis '' Nr. 3, 1959, p. 201–205 * "Keramische Erwerbungen der Islamischen Abteilung 1958–1960." ''Berliner Museen, '' Nr. 10, 1961, p. 6–15; * "Neuerworbene Gläser der Islamischen Abteilung 1958–1961." ''Berliner Museen, ''11, 1961, p. 31–41 * ''Orientalische Teppiche aus vier Jahrhunderten''. Ausstellung im Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, 22. August bis 22. Oktober 1950. Hamburg 1950. * Arabische Schriftzeichen als Ornamente in der abendländischen Kunst des Mittelalters. Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur in Mainz. Geistes- und sozialwissenschaftliche Klasse. Jahrgang 1953. Nr. 9. p. 467–513. * ''Der orientalische Knüpfteppich: Versuch einer Darstellung seiner Geschichte''. Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, Tübingen 1955. * ''Der türkische Teppich des 15. Jahrhunderts''. Istanbul 1957. * ''Europa und der Orientteppich''. Verlag, F. Kupferberg, Berlin/Mainz 1962. * with Peter W. Meister: ''Kaukasische Teppiche''. Exhibition catalogue Museum für Kunsthandwerk, Frankfurt 1962. * ''Siebenhundert Jahre Orientteppich: Zu seiner Geschichte und Erforschung''. Hanna Erdmann, ed., Bussesche Verlagshandlung, Herford 1966. * ''Iranische Kunst in deutschen Museen''. Hanna Erdmann (ed. posthumously), F. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1967.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdmann, Kurt 1901 births 1964 deaths Writers from Berlin German orientalists German art historians German male non-fiction writers Historians of Islamic art