Bernhard Degenhart – From the “Graphologie der Handzeichnung” to the “Corpus der italienischen Zeichnungen”
 

Johannes Röll

The comprehensive essay published in 1937 in the first volume of the Kunstgeschichtliches Jahrbuch der Bibliotheca Hertziana, “Zur Graphologie der Handzeichnung. Die Strichbildung als stetige Erscheinung innerhalb der italienischen Kunstkreise” by Bernhard Degenhart (1907-1999) is the result of more than a decade of intensive study of artistic drawings by the almost 30-year-old art historian. During these years, Degenhart determined also the content, form, and orientation of the project sponsored by the Bibliotheca Hertziana for a “Corpus der italienischen Zeichnungen”. As a fellow of the Hertziana, the Munich art historian, who had completed his doctorate under August L. Mayer and Wilhelm Pinder, was in close contact with Otto Lehmann-Brockhaus, Werner Körte and Leo Bruhns; he was also married to the photographer Hilde Bauer, who took many of the photographs for the long essay. After his years in Rome, Degenhart worked at the Albertina in Vienna, and in the last years of the war at the Kunstschutz in Turin. It was here that his lifelong friendship with Werner Haftmann (1912-1999) intensified. From 1949, Degenhart was curator and, from 1965, director of the Staatliche Graphische Sammlungen in Munich. Degenhart’s Roman years, his research and his networks are at the center of the project). One aspect of the project is the cooperation between Degenhart and his wife Hilde Degenhart-Bauer, which is the subject of a contribution to the catalog of the exhibition “Hilde in Italia. Arte e Vita nelle Fotografie di Hilde Lotz-Bauer” (Museo di Roma, Trastevere from 16.01.2024-05.05.2024).