Kurt Erdmann was a German art historian who specialized in Sasanian and Islamic Art.
15 Facts About Kurt Erdmann
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Kurt Erdmann is best known for his scientific work on the history of the Oriental rug, which he established as a subspecialty within his discipline.
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From 1958 to 1964, Erdmann served as the director of the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
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Kurt Erdmann was one of the protagonists of the "Berlin School" of Islamic art history.
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Kurt Erdmann started studying German literature in 1919, but soon developed a deeper interest in European art history.
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Kurt Erdmann then went on to an apprenticeship at the State Museum in Berlin, where he was invited by Friedrich Sarre to join the work on his publication, together with Hermann Trenkwald, about ancient oriental carpets.
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From 1958 until 1964, Kurt Erdmann was Head of the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, a department of the State Museums of Berlin, today the Pergamon Museum.
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Kurt Erdmann worked as a professor at the universities of Berlin, Hamburg, Bonn, Cairo, and Istanbul.
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Kurt Erdmann worked on the planning for the new Museum of Islamic Art, then in Dahlem, West Berlin, until his death.
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Kurt Erdmann was the fourth in a succession of directors of the Museum of Islamic Art, now the Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
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Kurt Erdmann was the first to describe the "four social layers" of carpet production.
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Kurt Erdmann recognized the traditions of village and nomad carpet designs as a distinct artistic tradition on its own, and described the process of stylization by which, over time, elaborate manufactory designs and patterns were integrated into the village and nomadic weaving traditions.
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Until Kurt Erdmann published his studies, art historians influenced by the nineteenth century "Vienna School" around Alois Riegl used to understand the process of pattern migration from court and town to village and nomad as a degeneration.
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Kurt Erdmann was among the first to draw attention to the village, tribal, and nomadic rugs as a distinct and genuine form of artistic expression.
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Kurt Erdmann established the structural analysis as a means to determine the historical framework of rug weaving traditions within the Islamic world.