The Society for Art History in Switzerland (, , ) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

dedicated to promoting the understanding of Swiss

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

and particularly of Swiss topography of art, including the study and maintenance of Swiss

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by socie ...

sites. The society, founded in 1880, publishes a wide range of

monographs A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

, guides, and inventories. These include the series ''Art monuments of Switzerland'' (, ), which includes more than one hundred volumes, the first of which was published in 1927. It also publishes the quarterly

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

''Kunst und Architektur in der Schweiz''.

History

Founding

The Society was founded on June 20, 1880 in

Zofingen Zofingen () is a city in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of Zofingen. Zofingen is a walled city and home to an ancient monastic settlement. History In ancient times Zofingen was a settlement of the Celtic ...

as the Patriotic Society for the Preservation of Historic Monuments (German: ''Vaterländische Gesellschaft für Erhaltung historischer Denkmäler''). Its creation was due to members of the Schweizerischer Kunstverein (Swiss Society of Fine Arts), and its first president was the

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Theodore de Saussure. The vice-presidency was held by the

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

art historian Johann Rudolf Rahn. The Society had as its aim to preserve and restore architectural

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

s, to save scattered works of art by bringing them together in

museums A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

, to arouse a better understanding of and appreciation for the

fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

, and to support

artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

, painters, and

sculptors Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

. In the statutes adopted at the meeting of the founding committee, the name of the society was altered to Association for the Preservation of Artistic Monuments of the Fatherland (German: Verein für Erhaltung vaterländischer Kunstdenkmäler). The regulations stipulated that the money received by the Society must be divided into two equal shares, where the first was to be used to finance publications and the other to buy works of art and old objects of value. This second part of the fund was also allocated for the restoration of

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

s that were at risk of being destroyed or falling into ruin. The association changed its name again at the general meeting in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

in 1881 to become the Swiss Society for the Preservation of Historic Art Monuments (German: ''Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Erhaltung historischer Kunstdenkmäler''). It shifted its stance towards buying items and buildings of national importance, though it still kept publishing various works. A brief treatise on the

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', ''Chasse (casket), chasse'', or ''phylactery'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary, or the room in which one is stored, may also be called a ''feretory''. Relics may be the purported ...

cross of

Engelberg Engelberg (lit.: ''mountain of angel(s)'') is a village resort and a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. Alongside the central village of Engelberg, the municipality enc ...

(from the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century) appeared in 1881 written by Rahn. Rahn also wrote a description of the

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

window dating from 1530 in the Reformed Church of St. Saphorin (

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

) and an article on the Casa Borrani (or Serodine) in

Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yearly Ascona Jazz Festival. ...

with its

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

. In 1934, the Society changed its name for the last time, taking its current name of the Society for Art History in Switzerland. At the general meeting in 1882, a request was made to set up an inventory of buildings requiring preservation or restoration works and of

objets d'art In art history, the French term objet d'art (; ) describes an ornamental work of art, and the term objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish ...

which were at risk of being destroyed or sold. In March 1884, the Federal Department of the Interior responded to a motion on the subject of the creation of a

Swiss National Museum The Swiss National Museum () is a museum in Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, adjacent to Central Station and the '' Platzspitz'' park. It is part of the ''Musée Suisse Group'', which is itself affiliated with the Federal Office of Culture ...

and entrusted the Society with the acquisition of a certain number of objects of its choice, but the ownership of which would revert to the

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. In the implementing ordinance of February 25, 1887, a Federal Commission for the Preservation of Antiquities of Switzerland was created and its competences and duties were passed to the committee of the Society. In the same year, the statutes of the Society were adapted to its new function.

Creation of Swiss National Museum

In 1891, the Federal Council (Swiss Government) founded the Swiss National Museum with its head office in Zurich and the purchase of

antiquities Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean such as the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt, and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures such as Ancient Persia (Iran). Artifact ...

then no longer was a duty of the Society. This decision was confirmed on March 12, 1892. The Society continued its inventory, preservation, and restoration work on historic works of art and excavations. In 1896, Karl Stehlin, then President of the Society, was called on to take charge of a new subsidiary research commission relating to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

period.

Josef Zemp Josef Zemp (2 September 1834 in Entlebuch – 8 December 1908) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1891–1908). On 17 December 1891, he was the first member of a conservative party to be elected to the Federal Council ...

, a later president, and Albert Naef, who took over the presidency from Zemp, pleaded for equality of treatment of the different old styles, rejecting any organization of the periods into a hierarchy. They attached great importance to as complete a job of preservation as possible of the authentic work and a distinction between what was original and what was reconstructed, in order to avoid any

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

. Starting from 1899, the Directory of Swiss Antiquities (German: ''Anzeiger für schweizerische Altertumskunde''), published by the Swiss National Museum, served as the official organ of the Society, complemented from 1901 on by the publication of the Society's Communications in two editions, German and French. The first issue of this series was devoted to the stained-glass windows of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

of the church in Oberkirch near

Frauenfeld Frauenfeld (Alemannic German, Alemannic: ''Frauefäld'') is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Thurgau, Thurgau in Switzerland. The official language of Frauenfeld is (the Swiss variety of Standard) Swiss Standard Ge ...

and the Weinmarkt (wine market) fountain in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

, with texts by Rahn and Zemp. In 1900, Paul Ganz suggested the establishment of a directory with photographs of old stained-glass windows in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, as well as working drawings and designs of stained-glass windows. Appointed director of the

Kunstmuseum Basel The Kunstmuseum Basel houses the oldest public art collection in the world and is generally considered to be the most important museum of art in Switzerland. It is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance. Its lineage extends ba ...

, he succeeded in building up a small collection by 1902 which became the starting point of the Archives of the History of Art in Switzerland (German: ''Archiv für schweizerische Kunstgeschichte''). Rahn also began to create an inventory of Switzerland's art and history monuments. The state archivist Robert Durrer later edited the statistics of the monuments of

Obwalden Canton of Obwalden or Obwald ( ; ; ; ) is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of seven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Sarnen. It is traditio ...

and

Nidwalden Canton of Nidwalden or Nidwald ( ; ; ; ) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven municipalities and the seat of the government and parliament is in Stans. It is traditionally considered a " half-canto ...

, published in a supplement to the Directory and reprinted in 1971.

Creation of Federal Commission of Historic Monuments

In 1915, the Department of the Interior created a Federal Commission of Historic Monuments (German: ''Eidgenössische Kommission für Denkmalpflege'') and the Society's activity in the field of the preservation of monuments also came to an end. Funds of 2000 francs (later 3000) for small restoration works were granted to the Society as a consolation. These funds were paid until 1960. Having thus been successively relieved of two essential tasks, the Society devoted itself from then on to the publication of works.

Major Publications

In 1920, under the presidency of the Genevan

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Camille Martin, the scholarly inventory of Switzerland's art and history monuments was able to commence. Samuel Guyer undertook the architectural inventory of the canton of

and Linus Birchler (the first president of the Federal Commission of Historic Monuments) that of the cantons of

Schwyz Schwyz (; ; ) is a town and the capital of the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland. The Federal Charter of 1291 or ''Bundesbrief'', the charter that eventually led to the foundation of Switzerland, can be seen at the ''Bundesbriefmuseum''. The of ...

and

Uri Uri may refer to: Places * Canton of Uri, a canton in Switzerland * Úri, a village and commune in Hungary * Uri, Iran, a village in East Azerbaijan Province * Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India * Uri (island), off Malakula Island in V ...

. The Society's committee submitted a request for grants to the federal authorities and drew up rules in 1924 to determine the organization of these far-reaching works. In 1925, in agreement with the Department of the Interior and various scholarly associations, the Society undertook the publication of the national inventory of the ''Monuments of Art and History of Switzerland'' (German: ''Inventar der Kunstdenkmäler der Schweiz'') in close collaboration with the cantons. The first volume, written by Birchler and devoted to three districts of the canton of Schwyz,

Einsiedeln Einsiedeln () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality and Districts of Switzerland#Schwyz, district in the canton of Schwyz in Switzerland known for its monastery, the Benedictine Einsiedeln Abbey, established in the 10th century. Histor ...

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

and Höfe, appeared in 1927. Since then, more than 120 volumes of this collection have been published. They were complemented between 1982 and 2004 by the Swiss Inventory of Architecture (German: ''Inventar der neueren Schweizer Architektur, 1850-1920 INSA''), a collection of eleven volumes. The Society also publishes the Guides to Swiss Monuments (German: ''Schweizerischer Kunstführer''), a series launched in 1935 by Paul Ganz, of regional or

cantonal The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the Federated state, member states of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the . Two important ...

guides, which are special issues touching on specific subjects linked to the history of art and architecture. It also publishes a quarterly review, Art + Architecture in Switzerland (German: ''Kunst+Architektur in der Schweiz'').

Presidents

* Theodore de Saussare * Julius Kunkler (1888 - 1895) * Karl Stehlin (1895 - 1898) * Josef Zemp (1898 - 1904) * Albert Naef (1904 - 1915) * Josef Zemp (1915 - 1916) * Camille Martin (1916 - 1922)

References

External links

Website of the Gesellschaft für Schweizerische Kunstgeschichte
in German and French. {{authority control Learned societies of Switzerland Art museums and galleries in Switzerland Arts organizations established in 1880 1880 establishments in Switzerland