Defining a Discipline: «Kunstgeschichtliche Anzeigen» as a Critical Organ for the Vienna School

This article briefly presents the often mentioned, yet not deeper investigated journal 'Kunstgeschichtliche Anzeigen' (KA), founded by Franz Wickhoff in 1904. The primary driving force behind the project was his then assistant Max Dvořák, who continued the editorship after Wickhoff’s death in 1909 until 1913. On this occasion, the founding of the journal through the unpublished correspondence between the two, which gives insight into the journal’s objectives and purpose, is retraced. Particular attention is given to the involvement of scholars from other universities as well as to the KA’s aim to establish a definition of scientifically valid research in art history. In this context, an analysis of the Vienna School’s definition of Wissenschaftlichkeit (‘scientificity’) is a central part of the article. Finally, the author reflects on the journal’s legitimacy in the broader context of the institutionalisation of the discipline of art history.