Blue Self-Portrait

Arnold Schönberg Estate.

“I personally believe in l’art pour l’art. In the creation of a work of art, nothing should interfere with the real idea. A work of art must elaborate on its own idea and follow the conditions which this idea establishes. This does not mean that an artist must have principles which he obeys and which he carries out under all circumstances. Such principles would probably be, in general, external and their application would certainly deprive a work of art from its natural conditions. There is perhaps only one principle which every artist should obey, that is: never to bow to the taste of the mediocre, to the taste of minor people who prefer that what an artist never would do.” (Arnold Schönberg, Round-Table on Modern Art, 1949).

The Arnold Schönberg Estate contains the records of Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951), a composer, painter, teacher, theoretician, and innovator who is ranked amongst the prominent artistic figures in the history of western culture. His writings, apart from his compositions, are valuable documents for the musical, intellectual, and cultural history of the first half of the 20th century, as well as for exile studies, and thus for contemporary history. They are evidence of the multifaceted interests of an eminent artistic personality, and also address questions of aesthetics, Jewish affairs, politics, and religion.