Ukrainian Art Historiography of the 1900–1920s and Riegl’s Vision of Art History: Fedir Sсhmit’s Art Theory as a Case Study

Mariana Levytska
Institute of Printing Art and Media Technologies, Lviv Polytechnic National University
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0977-4470

Volume 10, April 2026

Abstract In recent years, Ukrainian art history has undergone a critical reassessment of early twentieth-century scholarship, much of which was suppressed or marginalized under the Soviet regime. The first generation of professional Ukrainian art historians, including Fedir Schmit (1877–1937), emerged alongside the Vienna School but was largely eliminated by the 1930s. This paper pursues two main objectives: first, it traces the influence of Alois Riegl and other representatives of the Vienna School on the formation of conceptual approaches in early twentieth-century Ukrainian art history; and second, it reconsiders the figure of Fedir Schmit in relation to Riegl’s vision of art history. Particular attention is given to Riegl’s concept of Kunstwollen and its reception among his contemporaries and successors, including the theoretical contribution of Schmit, with his basic principles of art history that appear to be quite original and important. The study argues that differing historiographical engagements with Riegl’s ideas – whether through adoption, reinterpretation, or critique – were shaped by the specific cultural, ideological, and institutional conditions in which individual scholars operated.

Keywords Alois Riegl, Kunstwollen, Fedir Schmit, Ukrainian art historiography, taxonomy of art principles

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