New looks at old books: Emanuel Löwy, Die Naturwiedergabe in der älteren griechischen Kunst

• Main Author: A.A. Donohue
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Department of Art History, University of Birmingham 2011-12-01
• Series: Journal of Art Historiography
• Subjects: Emanuel Löwy; Greek art; naturalism in art; classical archaeology; classical scholarship
• Online Access: http://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/donohue1.pdf

The work of the Austrian archaeologist and historian of classical art Emanuel Löwy was widely read and influential in his own times, but despite his renown as a scholar and teacher, towards the end of his life and long afterwards his writings fell out of awareness, to the extent that in recent attempts to draw attention to his importance, he has been termed a ‘forgotten pioneer’. His most enduring work is his book The Rendering of Nature in Early Greek Art, first published in 1900, best remembered for his attempt to explain persistently non-naturalistic features in Greek painting and sculpture. His ideas are very much in the spirit of his times and have not lost all relevance for current art-historical work.