Vienna Secession Professors for PhD

[BelleEpoque]

Hi everyone

 

I've been lurking for awhile here and am finally posting. I was wondering if anybody had any insight as to any specific professors that focus on the Vienna Secession. I'm also interested in French art nouveau and German expressionism. I've been able to track down a few professors, but mostly ones that have only a side interest in the Vienna Secession. And I'm looking into top tier schools just because I know how impossible and competitive the job market is...

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks!

[condivi]

Hmm...I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone at a top school who specializes in Vienna Secession. There's nothing wrong with studying with someone who's interested in it as a side interest or who studies an adjacent area of study (for example, same time period, different country. Have you thought about Debora Silverman at UCLA or Joseph Koerner at Harvard?

[chuckthecloser]

You mention that you realize how competitive and impossible the job market is, and you can see that there are no professors specializing exclusively in Vienna secession... don't sound too promising as a long-term specialization. I second Silverman and Koerner, and I expect they would give you similar advice - don't focus in on something so narrow, especially not so early. 

[klondike]

If you are able to look abroad I would suggest Sabine Wieber at the University of Glasgow (she isn't a superstar like Koerner, but an excellent researcher and very supportive advisor). She specializes (broadly) in 19th century exhibition practices, but has written extensively on Viennese and German art of the turn of the century.

[BelleEpoque]

Thanks everyone for your input and suggestions. I have looked into Koerner at Harvard and I would say that's my first choice at this point. Chuckthecloser, the Vienna Secession isn't the only thing I want to focus on - I have a much broader interest in the 19th century-early 20th century, but I was just surprised at how difficult it was to find any professors doing any research whatsoever on the Vienna Secession, which is such an historically rich time period. German/Austrian art seems to be a field rather underrepresented in the top universities. Good to know that finding someone in the same time period but a different country could work, because there are plenty of professors doing work on French art during that time.

[acanthus]

You mention that you realize how competitive and impossible the job market is, and you can see that there are no professors specializing exclusively in Vienna secession... don't sound too promising as a long-term specialization. I second Silverman and Koerner, and I expect they would give you similar advice - don't focus in on something so narrow, especially not so early. 

 

If the job market worked that way, we'd be a discipline full of Titian scholars, no? 

[chuckthecloser]

My reply was not a value judgment or a suggestion that you mirror the specialization of recent hires in order to perpetuate an art historical echo chamber. An overly narrow specialization is limiting. My advice would be to aim for the best program possible with someone working in German/Austrian 19th and/or 20th, and in your coursework, cast as wide a net as you can within Europe and those two centuries. There's this idea floated here on grad cafe that your personal statement should include a very specific research plan/topic. I can tell you that professors are much more interested in students who can adapt to coursework, and who are flexible in their interests. It's just better business for them, and if you look at the incoming classes of Fall 2013 on the current student pages of the top programs, you'll see that many (most) of them have broadly stated interests.

[condivi]

I'm not sure an interest in Vienna Secession is too narrow at this point; in fact, in your statement you should be more specific(!). You won't, for sure, get into a top program saying you're interested broadly in German/Austrian 19th and 20th-century art. Academics specialize, and when you write your statement, laying out a specific area of interest shows an admissions committee you have the maturity to be a real scholar and do real scholarly work. Not only should you state that you're interested in Vienna Secession, but you should also make clear what kind of intervention you want to make in the field (I can tell that just because the current student pages at top programs list broad interest doesn't mean they stated their interests so broadly in their personal statements). Of course your interests can, and will, change, but committees want to see that you know your field well enough to do the kind of specialized work scholars do. That said, you should make clear that you're not only interested in Vienna Secession, and you should communicate how your interests speak to larger historical/art historical issues. If you do this, a professor who studies, say, 20th-c. German art, or 19th-c. French, would probably take you seriously as a prospective student. 

Edited November 11, 2013 by condivi

[chuckthecloser]

In my experience, prospective students who present the committee with research interests within a broader field are more successful, but I suppose we have to agree to split the difference on this one. Either way, I wouldn't lean too heavily on the opinions of Internet strangers - myself included.

[losemygrip]

Alessandra Comini is retired (thank god). 

 

I'd just like to say that Vienna Secession could be a good specialty, especially if there aren't many experts around.  You could potentially find a nice career in an auction house or decorative arts museum.  Sounds good to me!

[Borden]

 

And I'm looking into top tier schools just because I know how impossible and competitive the job market is...

 

You may have to get off your high horse (I mean that nicely, having done it myself), and look for someone who has a better overlap at a less fancy school. There are excellent scholars working at smaller schools, and you will get more out of a program that jives with your interests and methodologies than trying to shoehorn yourself into something that doesn't actually support you. I highly doubt no one is working on the Vienna Secession right now, just no one at Harvard or NYU.

 

ETA Secession, lizzie, good lord.

Edited November 12, 2013 by Borden

[Swagato]

I don't think it's being on a high horse to realize that it matters significantly where you earn your PhD when you go on the job market eventually. 

[Borden]

I mean it in the nicest way, I really do. The problem is that not everyone gets to go to top tier schools, and by limiting oneself to only looking at top tier schools even if they aren't actually good fits can bit one firmly in the ass. It wouldn't hurt them to look at non-top-10 programs that have faculty in place to support them.

[poliscar]

Brigid Doherty at Princeton is worth looking at, particularly since Princeton also has a stellar German department. 

 

Also look at http://www.caareviews.org/dissertations for a decent view of American/Canadian dissertations; there might be a couple of leads.

Edited November 13, 2013 by poliscar

[BelleEpoque]

Poliscar, thank you so much for that link!! That is an amazing resource that I had no idea about and just after browsing a few minutes has already been incredibly helpful! I have been in contact with Brigid Doherty as well. Good to know I'm on the right track - just want to make sure I wasn't missing something. There seems to be a lot more scholars in Europe compared to the US that are studying the Vienna Secession.

[Atlantis]

I work on the German 1890s. There is a dearth of good scholarship. I have worked with Joseph Koerner before when was at the Courtauld. He is truly brilliant - I mean, out-of-this-world-brilliant - and I can only recommend working with him.

 

Also look into the scholarship of Katherine Kuenzly at Wesleyan, even if you don't apply there. She's preparing a book on Van de Velde, which should be highly interesting.