ERNST GOMBRICH AND MAX DVOŘÁK

Ernst Gombrich stated that reading Max Dvořák convinced him that the art of the past “offered an immediate and exciting access to the mind of bygone ages”. The paper documents his involvement with Dvořák from his school-leaving essay, through his experience at university, into his essays for Kritische Berichte and then into his later career at the Warburg Institute. It will argue that although Gombrich rapidly came to criticise the notion of “immediate” access, it nevertheless raised problems that stayed with him through his career and thus exercised a benign influence on his development.