Rudolf Hiferding Quotes

Powerful Rudolf Hiferding for Daily Growth

About Rudolf Hiferding

Rudolf Hiferding (February 15, 1877 - June 30, 1944) was an Austrian art historian, museum director, and critic, whose influential work spanned various areas of art, including Medieval and Modern Art. Born in Vienna, Hiferding studied art history at the University of Vienna under Alois Riegl, a key figure in the development of Pan-Iconology, a theory that explored the symbolic function of art. Hiferding's career began in 1903 when he became an assistant at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. He rose through the ranks to become its director from 1924 until his death. Hiferding was also a prominent figure in the Wiener Secession, a group of artists who advocated for modern art in Austria during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Hiferding's major works include "Der österreichische Biedermeier" (1904), which is considered the standard reference work on Austrian Biedermeier art, and "Die Entstehung der gotischen Kathedrale" (1916), a seminal study on Gothic cathedral architecture. His most influential work, however, was "Kunstindustrie im Zeitalter Philipps des Schönen" (1927), which explored the role of craftsmanship in art during the Renaissance. Hiferding's ideas were significantly influenced by his mentor Alois Riegl and the Vienna Circle, a group of philosophers who emphasized logical positivism and scientific methodology. Hiferding applied these principles to art history, advocating for a more objective and systematic approach. Despite his significant contributions to art history, Hiferding's career was marked by controversy. His support for modern art during the early 20th century placed him at odds with traditionalists, and his Jewish background led to difficulties under the Nazi regime, ultimately resulting in his suicide in 1944. Rudolf Hiferding's legacy endures as a pioneer in the field of art history, whose work continues to influence scholars today. His commitment to modern art, objective analysis, and interdisciplinary approach make him an important figure in the development of art history as a discipline.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The state is not human, it is a construction of the human mind."

Rudolf Hiferding's statement "The state is not human, it is a construction of the human mind" emphasizes that the state, as a political entity, is an artificial creation, rather than a natural one. It suggests that the state does not have inherent qualities or characteristics that are found in humans; instead, it is a product of human thought and organization. This quote underscores the idea that the state, with its laws, institutions, and structures, serves as a tool for humans to regulate their relationships, address shared challenges, and maintain social order, rather than having an existence or purpose separate from human society.


"Culture is the sum total of all the things that men know and believe to be true in a given society."

This quote by Rudolf Hiferding suggests that culture, in its entirety, represents the accumulated knowledge and shared beliefs within a particular community or society. It underscores the idea that every group of people has unique wisdom, values, traditions, and understanding about the world that define their cultural identity. Essentially, culture is the lens through which society views, interprets, and responds to its environment.


"Art is a means of union among men, joining them through the emotional."

This quote by Rudolf Hiferding emphasizes the unifying power of art. He suggests that art serves as a tool to bring people together, fostering emotional connections among individuals who might otherwise be divided by differences in culture, beliefs, or backgrounds. By evoking shared emotions through artistic expression, we can find common ground and understanding with others, thereby promoting unity and solidarity within the human community.


"Architecture is frozen music."

Rudolf Hifferding's quote, "Architecture is frozen music," suggests that just as music evokes emotions through its rhythm, melody, and harmony, architecture can inspire and move us in a similar way. It emphasizes the idea that buildings and structures can embody beauty, order, and harmony, much like a well-composed piece of music does to our ears. This quote underscores the profound connection between art forms and encourages architects to create designs that resonate emotionally with people, thus enhancing their living experiences.


"The task of art is to express the inexpressible, to make visible the invisible."

This quote by Rudolf Hiferding underscores the essence and purpose of art: to translate or represent emotions, ideas, or experiences that are inherently difficult, if not impossible, to express in words alone. Art serves as a medium to visualize and communicate the intangible aspects of life, thus making them tangible and comprehensible for others to understand, appreciate, and reflect upon.


But whether, for example, a coat can be exchanged for twenty yards of linen cloth or for forty yards is not a matter of chance, but depends upon objective conditions, upon the amount of socially necessary labor time contained in the coat and in the linen respectively.

- Rudolf Hiferding

Chance, Necessary, Amount, Respectively

Since, however, the reduced surplus value is to be distributed among them in like manner, the modification of their respective parts in the production of surplus value must find expression in a modification of the prices.

- Rudolf Hiferding

Expression, However, Surplus, Distributed

The object of the law of value is to elucidate the actual exchange relations of commodities.

- Rudolf Hiferding

Law, Commodities, Actual, Object

As soon, however, as capitalist competition has definitively established the equal rate of profit, that rate becomes the starting point for the calculations of the capitalists in the investment of capital in newly-created branches of production.

- Rudolf Hiferding

However, Capital, Capitalist, Profit

Value is consequently the necessary theoretical starting point whence we can elucidate the peculiar phenomenon of prices resulting from capitalist competition.

- Rudolf Hiferding

Necessary, Capitalist, Peculiar

The expansion of the market creates a need for enhanced and more regular supply, and this in turn impels commercial capital to acquire control of production as well.

- Rudolf Hiferding

Need, Commercial, Capital, Regular

It is obvious, moreover, that the formation of price in capitalist society must differ from the formation of price in social conditions based upon the simple production of commodities.

- Rudolf Hiferding

Social, Capitalist, Based, Differ

It is therefore utterly false to say that Marx revokes the law of value as far as individual commodities are concerned, and maintains it in force solely for the aggregate of these commodities.

- Rudolf Hiferding

Law, Individual, Concerned, Commodities

Value manifests itself as exchange value, as a quantitatively determined relationship, in virtue of the fact that one commodity can be exchanged for another.

- Rudolf Hiferding

Fact, Another, Commodity, Determined

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