Full Name: Reznicek, E. K. J.
Other Names:
- Emil Karel Josef Reznicek
Gender: male
Date Born: 1924
Date Died: 2002
Place Born: Poděbrady, Středočeský, Czechoslovakia
Home Country/ies: Czechoslovakia
Subject Area(s): Dutch (culture or style), Dutch Golden Age, Northern Renaissance, and prints (visual works)
Overview
Goltzius scholar; Professor of art history at Utrecht University. Reznicek attended high school at Nymburk and studied, between 1945 and 1948, history at the Univerzita Karlova (Charles University) in Prague. In 1948 he fled to West-Germany, from where he then moved to The Netherlands. At Utrecht University, he studied art history, from 1948 to 1953, under J. G. van Gelder, William S. Heckscher, Murk Daniël Ozinga, and G. J. Hoogewerff. While he was a student, he worked as an intern at the Royal Cabinet of Paintings in the Mauritshuis and at the Netherlands Institute for Art History (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, RKD), both in The Hague. In the latter institution he organized, in 1952, an exhibition of seventeenth-century drawings. In the same year, he became the head of the department of documentation and reproduction in the Institute of Art History at Utrecht University. In 1958 he was responsible for the Rotterdam-Haarlem exhibition catalog Hendrik Goltzius als tekenaar (Hendrik Goltzius as Draughtsman). In the same year he obtained a teaching position at the Institute. In 1961, he earned the doctor’s degree with his dissertation, Hendrick Goltzius als Zeichner. His adviser was J. G. van Gelder. Reznicek incorporated this study on Goltzius as a draughtsman in his 1961 two-volume illustrated monograph, Die Zeichnungen von Hendrick Goltzius. This monumental work includes an introductory essay on Goltzius’ style, the iconography and the art theoretical aspects of his oeuvre, and its historiography, as well as the catalogue raisonné of 449 Goltzius’ drawings. In 1964, he was appointed lector of art history at Utrecht University. His inaugural lecture dealt with the recent reform of the art history curriculum. In 1966, after Van Gelder’s departure, Reznicek was appointed full professor. He was responsible for general art history after 1400, excluding architecture. He was a teacher of impressive scholarship. A connoisseur of drawing, he gave his students the opportunity to practice in cataloging and describing drawings in public and private collections. He regularly published in Dutch as well as in foreign periodicals. In addition to his tasks as a teacher and researcher, Reznicek increasingly became involved in administrative duties. He retired in 1985. His Festschrift, Was getekend. Tekenkunst door de eeuwen heen, appeared as the 1987 issue of the Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek. It consists of ca. 40 papers in Reznicek’s field of specialization. To the 1991-1992 issue of the same serial, Goltzius-studies: Hendrick Goltzius 1558-1617, Reznicek contributed a survey of thirty years’ research on Goltzius. This included a preview of his own research on the drawings of this master rediscovered since his 1961 publication. In 1993, he published his new findings on more than 60 drawings in Master Drawings. In studying the diverse aspects of Goltzius’ oeuvre, Reznicek paid attention to cultural circumstances and the intellectual milieu of the artist. This reflects the scholarly approach of his mentor, J. G. van Gelder. Reznicek died in 2002. Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617). Drawings, Prints, and Paintings, the catalog that accompanied the 2003-2004 Goltzius exhibition (Amsterdam, New York and Toledo, Ohio), is dedicated to his memory.
Selected Bibliography
[For a complete list, see:] “Bibliografie E.K.J. Reznicek” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 38 (1987): 11-13; [dissertation:] Hendrick Goltzius als Zeichner. Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, 1961; “Bij de vierhonderdste verjaardag van Hendrick Goltzius.” Hendrik Goltzius als tekenaar. Rotterdam: Museum Boymans-Haarlem: Teylers Museum, 1958, pp. 6-9; “Het begin van Goltzius’ loopbaan als schilder.” Oud Holland 75 (1960): 30-49; Mostra di disegni fiamminghi e olandesi. Catalogo a cura di E. K. J. Reznicek. Galeria degli Uffizi. Gabinetto dei disegni e delle stampe. Firenze: L. S. Olschki, 1964; Die Zeichnungen von Hendrick Goltzius. 2 vols. Utrecht: Haentjens Dekker & Gumbert, 1961; [Inaugural lecture, Utrecht University, December 2, 1964:] Quo vadimus? Splitsing of synthese bij het kunsthistorisch onderzoek. Utrecht, 1964; KHI addio: Utrechtse kunstgeschiedenis, herinneringen aan haar prominenten. Utrecht: Stichting Vrienden van het Kunsthistorisch Instituut der Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht, 1986; “Hendrik Goltzius 1961-1991 – een overzicht van dertig jaar onderzoek.” in Falkenburg, Reindert, Filedt Kok, Jan Piet, and Leeflang, Huigen (eds.) Goltzius-Studies: Hendrik Goltzius 1558-1617. Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 42/43 (1991-1992): 121-144; Hendrick Goltzius. Drawings Rediscovered 1962-1992. Supplement to Die Zeichnungen von Hendrick Goltzius (1961). New York: Master Drawings Association, 1993; “Drawings by Hendrick Goltzius, Thirty Years Later. Supplement to the 1961 Catalogue raisonné.” Master Drawings 31, 3 (1993); “Hendrik Goltzius” Dictionary of Art 12 (1996): p. 881.
Sources
“Addio Rez.” “Addio Rez.” “Was getekend… Tekenkunst door de eeuwen heen.” Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek 38 (1987): 7-10; Leeflang, Huigen, Luijten, Ger, and others. Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617). Drawings, Prints, and Paintings. Zwolle: Waanders, 2003.