Professor Yonan
Professor Yonan and Messerschmidt’s bust of the famed magnetist Franz Anton Mesmer. Franz Xaver Messerschmidt, Franz Anton Mesmer, 1770, Belvedere, Vienna, on permanent loan from private collection
Professor Michael Yonan recently traveled to Vienna, Austria to view the exhibition “Franz Xaver Messerschmidt: More than Character Heads” at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. He contributed an essay to its catalogue, the title of which is “The Pathologization of Messerschmidt and his Art.” The exhibition examines and contextualizes Messerschmidt’s portraits of the aristocracy, scholars, scientists, and writers as well as his famous “Character Heads.” “Franz Xaver Messerschmidt” was curated by Katharina Lovecky and Georg Lechner.
Professor Yonan also visited Olomouc, Czech Republic, where he gave a lecture at Palacký University called “Tradition and Innovation: Messerschmidt and Janecký.”