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Adalbert Franz Seligmann

born Vienna, April 2, 1862; died Vienna, December 13, 1945

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Austrian art critic, writer, and painter.

Career Summary

Seligmann studied at the Vienna Akademie der Bildenden Künste 1880-84, and with among others Christian Griepenkerl 1884-87 at the Munich Akademie der Bildenden Künste. He travelled many times to Germany, France, Italy, the Balkans, and Turkey, for purposes of study. Thereafter, he worked as art correspondent for various newspapers, including the Wiener Sonn- und Montags-Zeitung (1894-1904), Die Wage (1898-99), the Neue Freie Presse (1903-34) and Die Moderne Welt (from 1918), in the course of his contributions to which, though against contemporary art, he advocated progressive plein-air painting; a collection of this early criticism was published under the title Kritische Studien von Plein-Air (Vienna, 1904). A second collection, based largely on feuilletons from the Neue Freie Presse , appeared under the title Kunst und Künstler von gestern und heute (Vienna: Carl Konegen, 1910); he gave a copy to Schenker, who in his thank-you message noted at the time that he “already possessed it,” having faithfully collected and carefully arranged all of Seligmann’s newspaper articles.) A third collection of later journalism was issued posthumously, in 2015.

For many years, Seligmann taught at the Vienna Conservatory (later designated the Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst): from 1889 to 1898 as instructor in "historical costume art," from 1910 to at least 1919 as lecturer (Dozent) in "costume art and art history," from 1912/13 with the title of Professor. In 1897, he founded the Kunstschule für Frauen und Mädchen (Vienna Art School for Women and Girls), later the Frauenakademie (Academy for Women).

Seligmann and Schenker

In their three decades of corresponding with one another (1902–33), Seligmann and Schenker always addressed each other as their “dear friend” (lieber Freund), and they remained on good terms for almost the whole of the period. Each took an interest in the other’s work, and Schenker was especially keen to know whether it might be possible to measure the worth of a painting, or the importance of an artist, on purely objective criteria, as he claimed he could do for musical works and composers. Schenker gave Seligmann a copy of each of his publications, and often asked him to read and comment on the non-technical parts of them, including the treatise Ein Beitrag zur Ornamentik (1903), the sections on the secondary literature in Beethovens Neunte Sinfonie (1912), and the essay "Rameau oder Beethoven?" in the third Meisterwerk yearbook (1930). Seligmann, for his part, gave Schenker a copy of his Kunst und Künstler and invited him to exhibitions of his paintings.

Seligmann had a good knowledge of music and was an enthusiastic chamber musician (he played in a quartet with Schenker in the early 1900s, but his instrument is not specified). Because he had held a lectureship in costume design at the Vienna Conservatory, he had inside knowledge of the workings of both the Conservatory and its parent organisation, the Gesellschaft der Musik Freunde in Wien, and could thus offer valuable guidance to Schenker when he was desperately seeking a teaching post there in 1903; see especially Seligmann’s long letter of late summer or early autumn 1903 (OJ 14/23, [7]). He was also on friendly terms with the editorial teams of Viennese newspapers, and could help Schenker place a notice about a series of lectures on the decline of musical composition, which were proposed in 1911 but never materialized.

Seligmann greatly admired Schenker’s musical understanding and his skill as a writer; but he did not shy away from criticizing his polemical language, pointing out in several letters that his friend’s denigration of the writings of his “adversaries” (Gegner) served little purpose and harmed his standing in the academic world. He shared Schenker’s artistic conservatism, but generally kept his own critical writings, which were often amusing, free from personal attack.

Correspondence with Schenker

Correspondence from Seligmann to Schenker (including two printed notices) is preserved as OJ 14/23 (28 items, 1902-33), that from Schenker to Seligmann at the Wienbibliothek im Rathaus, as WSLB-Hds 94475-95664 passim (17 items, 1903-31). One letter from Seligmann to Jeanette Schenker in February 1935 also survives (OJ 14/23), making 46 items in total. It is clear from the correspondence itself and from Schenker’s diary that there were other items that have not survived.

Sources:

  • Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950, Band XII (Wien 2005), pp. 152-153 and online
  • Jahresberichte der K. K. Akademie für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (Vienna, 1909-19)

Contributor:

  • Marko Deisinger, William Drabkin, and Ian Bent

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Correspondence

Diaries