Seite - 250 - in Wiener Jahrbuch für Kunstgeschichte, Band LIX

Evonne Levy250 certain essence of art which can not be substi- tuted either by taste, ‘form’ or ‘expression.’ The will to conserve things living is to be combined with the will not to revive artificially things dead (e.g. monarchs, ‘Stände’ or thom- isme), with the will to destroy things thoroughly rotten (e.g. industrial capitalism in its present form) and with the will to build up in an or- ganic process new entities which are not found amongst the things conserved. You will easily deduce other peculiarities of a conservativisme understood on this line. Now that idea and will today is no real power, therefor their adherents if they do not re- sign to act in and on reality have to join other groops whose program is not theirs. They e.g. where communism is an imminent danger will have to support fascism and similar movements, while, – on the other part – they will have to fight cryptocommunist, atheist and so on trends inside fascism. That situation of course is a dif- ficult one and dangerous in a moral sense, but such are the situation and the tactics of all mi- norities in practical politics and life. For the rest we have seen quite a lot of minorities become majorities in the post-war times. If you want you can try to deduce what I am and must be a ‘conservative.’ I shall furnish you the data: I am born and grown up until my tenth year in the ‘wild’ country (in Slavonia) where my father was the director or governor of vast domains. My ancestors are country- men, rangers and peasants from Bavaria. My name means the major that is (I think) chief of a sedl (sedis) that is a peasants farm privileged with rights of a squire. Very few of my ances- tors and relatives lived and live in towns. My brother is tenant of a small estate44 and if by chance I should come to a reasoneable sum I would perhaps join him and follow my studies living on my own soil a way of living to whom I incline not for romantic devotion to country and countryfolk (both are ugly very often) but by the habits of my childhood and family. - But my greatgrandfather also was an able scholar, friend of Liebig; my father has written one of the best books, I think the first important one (except some Russians like Tchayanof who were killed by the bolschevists) on ‘Bäuerliche Land- gutswirtschaft’ (a subject which has become fashionable since in nowadays Germany).45 So science is almost as hereditary in my family as conservativisme. I do ask you not to discuss my opinions - which must be very strange to you: american, communist and jew (I hope not offending) be- cause I am too deeply convinced of the barren- ness of discussion where there is no common ba- sis. Such a common platform we have e.g on the scientific field, where our discussions have been fruitful and will continue to be so. I guess you will try to deduce from that ‘so- ciological’ difference given the difference in our attitudes towards Kunstwissenschaft and I am sure not without results. Here we are on com- mon basis in the estimation of ‘Strenge,’ of ra- tional and critical methods. We are – it seems to me – separated through our views on art. I can not get rid of the suspicion that – in spite of your fine gifts in observing forms and form- 44 Kurt Sedlmayr (1900–1965) followed their father’s career path as an agricultural economist in Hungary. 45 Ernst Conrad Sedlmayr (1868 Siegendorf (Burgenland)–1939 Vienna), son of a sugar factory director, was an agri- cultural economist, active in agriculture for many years for a period as director of a large property in Hungary. From 1907–36 he was professor of landwirtschaftliche Betriebslehre at the Hochschule für Bodenkultur in Vienna. His publications include: Die landwirtschaftliche Betriebsstatistik. Anleitung zur Einrichtung der Wirtschaftsstatistik landwirtschaftlicher Betriebe, Berlin 1925; Fruchtfolgen und die Aufstellung des Fruchtfolgeplanes. Ein Beitrag zur Organisation des Feldbetriebes, Berlin 1927; Zuckerrübenbau, Vienna 1928; Betriebserfolg und Jahresschlußrech- nung in der Landwirtschaft, Berlin 1930; Die bäuerliche Landgutswirtschaft, Berlin, 1930. Source: Wikipedia, URL: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Conrad_Sedlmayr [20.04.2011].