Klein, Wilhelm

Date born: 1850

Place born: Karánsebes, Hungary

Date died: 1924

Place died:

Archeologist and professor at the German University of Prague, 1886-1923; scholar of Greek (especially red-figure) vase painting. Klein studied Jewish theology and then philosophy at the university in Vienna and then Prague. He traveled to Italy and Greece to study archeological sites, where his interests focused on pottery. In 1879 he published on Euphronius, the Greek vase painter named on a pot. Klein was appointed professor of archeology at the University of Prague in 1886. The rising classical religion and art scholar, Jane Ellen Harrison, met him on her tour of the continent and furthering her career by introducing her to Wilhelm Dörpfeld. He was a member of the Gesellschaft zur Förderung deutscher Wissenschaft, Kunst, und Literatur in Böhmen. He was also a member of the German Archeological Institute (DAI). His Die Griechischen Vasen, mit Meisterinschriften appeared in 1883. Praxiteles was published in 1892.

Klein's important study of Attic signatures on vases still serves as the basis for our interpretation of them (Rouet). LS

Home Country: Austria/Czech

Sources: Archäologenbildnisse: Porträts und Kurzbiographien von Klassichen Archäologen deutscher Sprache. Reinhard Lullies, ed. Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1988: 98-99;  [mentioned] Rouet, Philippe. Approaches to the Study of Attic Vases: Beazley and Pottier. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Bibliography: Geschichte der griechischen Kunst. 3 vols. Leipzig, Veit & comp., 1904-07; Euphronios: eine Studie zur Geschichte der griechischen Malerei. Vienna: Karl Gerold's Sohn, 1879; Die Griechischen Vasen mit Lieblingsinschriften. Vienna: F. Tempsky, 1890; Die griechischen Vasen mit Meistersignaturen. Vienna: Karl Gerold's Sohn, 1883; Praxiteles. Leipzig: Verlag von Veit, 1892; Studien zur griechischen Künstlergeschichte. Vienna: Carl Gerol's Sohn, 1880; Vom antiken Rokoko. Vienna: Österreichische Verlagsgesellschaft/E. Hölzel, 1921.

Subject's name: Wilhelm Klein