Morgenstern ja Liphart. Kahe kunstitähe tegutsemisest samas ajas ja ruumis
Creators: name: Sahk, Ingrid
Publisher: name: Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi
Year: 2021

description: What do we know about and how can we describe the encounters between Karl Morgenstern and the Lipharts, the Raadi lords of the manor, who were the greatest art collectors in 19th century Tartu/ Dorpat? Published sources give the impression that Morgenstern and the Lipharts had virtually no interaction, Morgenstern’s name does not appear very often in the biography of the Lipharts, and vice versa. In Morgenstern’s diaries, Raadi manor (Ratshof) appears as the destination of his frequent walks, just like Kadriorg in Tallinn, but nothing more personal emerges from it. However, Morgenstern probably knew which paintings belonged to the Lipharts, and some of them were of great interest to him. At least he published his opinion on two of the paintings by Johann Dominik von Fiorillo that belonged to the Lipharts’ art collection. The replica of the portrait of Rector Parrot painted by F. G. von Kügelgen for R. W. von Liphart was also probably mediated by Morgenstern. There is some evidence that Morgenstern and Liphart shared information about subscriptions for prints and art bulletins. What did the Lipharts think and know about the art collected by Morgenstern, either for his private collection or the university? There is no written evidence of their opinions, no facts or stories of the Lipharts visiting Morgenstern’s art collection. Karl Eduard von Liphart, who later became a great connoisseur of prints and Italian renaissance art, may have used the possibility to train his eye looking at prints at the University of Tartu Art Museum in his youth. However, this remains only a guess. During the lifetime of Karl Morgenstern, the university art museum’s collection was formed according to his personal tastes and ideas. It is intriguing that after Morgenstern’s death, the focus of the collection was shifted and the influence of the Lipharts became more prominent. In 1858 curator G. F. von Bradke formed a committee to re-evaluate the collections of the University of Tartu Art Museum, and K. E. von Liphart became the only external member of the body. Although he is more known for his marvellous prints, K. E. von Liphart also collected plaster casts that filled his house at Lai Street 30 in Tartu. Most probably his knowledge and ideas about this subject also influenced the committee’s final decision—collecting plaster casts of ancient art became the main focus of the university museum. The combination of antique sculpture and wall paintings from Pompeii had already been used in the interior of the Lipharts’ house long before the Pompeian-style decoration was painted for the University of Tartu Art Museum in 1868. K. E. von Liphart’s special interest in photography, a state-of-the-art technology at that time, also left its mark on the university’s collections. When Woldemar Krüger, who ran the university’s drawing school in the second half of the 19th century, started commissioning photographic reproductions of famous artworks for instructional purposes, he relied mostly on the advice and recommendations of his friend K. E. von Liphart. Thus, we may presume that even if there are not enough facts, it pays to search more closely for possible personal influences and impact. Often, important changes may happen through local and intimate contacts, not because of the twists and turns or grand ideas of art history in general.
description: Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi, No. 49 (2021): Morgenstern ja tema aeg