Klimt’s Jurisprudence―Sovereign Violence and the R

OxfordJournalofLegalStudies,Vol.35,No.3(2015),pp.515–542doi:10.1093/ojls/gqv007PublishedAdvanceAccessMarch13,2015Klimt’sJurisprudence—SovereignViolenceandtheRuleofLawDesmondManderson*Abstract—ThisessaydevelopsanextendedanalysisofGustavKlimt’slostmasterpiece,Jurisprudence,bringingitintoaricherdialoguewithitssocialandlegalcontext.Jurisprudence,asufferingnakedmansurroundedbyeyes,eerilycapturestherelationshipbetween‘sovereigntyandbarelife’thatAgambenargueswasre-forgedandrefinedacrossthe20thcentury.Klimt’simagemightperhapsberegardedastheveryfirst,andperhapsstillthemostcomprehensive,representationofthisprofoundlyimportantfigureoflegalmodernity.ButKlimtdoesnotmerelyexemplifyAgamben’sforcefieldofjurisprudentialviolence;healsocomplicatesandinterrogatesit.DrawingontwoofthemostimportantculturaleventstotakeplaceinViennaatthetime—thefirstperformanceofAeschylus’OresteiaandthefirstpublicationofSigmundFreud’sInterpretationofDreams—theessaydevelopsthreedistinctreadingsofthepainting’srelationshipbetweenman,law,andsovereignty.Likeanopticalillusion,Klimt’spaintinghoversuncertainlybetweenthreedifferentbutequallynecessaryperspectives:lawasitis(thesocial);lawasweimagineit(thephilosophical);andlawasitmightbe(thepolitical).Thepropernameforthehighlychargedstudyoftheirrelationshipisjurisprudence.Keywords:legaltheory,legalhistory,jurisprudence,justice,sovereignty,ruleoflaw1.IntroductionGustavKlimtwasLordoftheRing—theRingstrassethatis,homeandmonumenttobourgeoisAustrianlegality.1In1894,sustainedbyawell-burnishedrespectability,hewascommissionedtoproducethreepaintingsfortheceilingoftheGreatHalloftheUniversityofVienna.TheyweretorepresenttheFacultiesofPhilosophy,Medicine,andJurisprudence.2Itwasto*FutureFellow,ANUCollegeofLaw/HumanitiesResearchCentre.Email:[e-mail].1SeeCSchorske,Fin-de-Sie`cleVienna:PoliticsandCulture(AlfredKnopf1980)ch1.2GKlimt,Jurisprudenz(oiloncanvas430300cm1903–07)andseeFNovotnyandJDobai,GustavKlimt;WithaCatalogueRaisonneofhisPaintings(Praeger1968)catno128;GKlimt,Medizin(oiloncanvas430300cm1899–1907);GKlimt,Philosophie(oiloncanvas430300cm1898-1907).FWhitford,Klimt(Thames&Hudson1990)50;Schorske,Fin-de-Sie`cleVienna(n1).TheAuthor2015.PublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress.Allrightsreserved.Forpermissions,pleasee-mail:[e-mail]sterdamonJanuary6,2016‘unclearideasthroughunclearforms’,4darknessandfogabounding;Medicineshowednotthescienceofhealingbutbodiesinpainandecstasy,death,sexandlifewrithingacrossthecanvas.5Reasonandscienceareineachcasesubjugatedtoprimalforces.Questionswereaskedinparliament;petitionswereraisedagainsttheworks;theMinistrywaspressuredtowithdrawthecommission;theUniversity’snewchairofaestheticsfamouslydeclared‘Wearenotopposedtonakednessortothefreedomofart,butweareopposedtouglyart.’6In1901,whenKlimtbeganworkonJurisprudence(Figure1)heknewwhattoexpect.7Althoughthereareclearthematicconnectionsbetweenitandtheearlierpictures,itwasalreadyapparentthatthecanvaseswouldneverbehungasoriginallyplanned.Instyle,palette,andtexture,thetreatmentofthefinalpicturemarksmoreofarupturewiththeothertwothantheircontinuation.Thecanvaswasnotdesignedwithaceiling,orwithitscompanions,inmind.Whenitwasfirstexhibited,aspartoftheSecessionexhibitionof1903,KarlKraus,Vienna’smostprominentcritic,dismisseditasbringingthegrandeuroflawintodisrepute.Theviewermightrespondtothework,hesuggested,with‘ridiculeorpity’asthemoodtookthem.8Klimthadcommittedtheunpardonablesinofturninghisbackonconventionalwisdom.ThepaintingwasnotcalledRechtorRechtswissenschaftorGerechtigkeit.Nomysterythere;Jurisprudenzwaswhathehadbeencommissionedtodepict—thepropernameoftheoldestFacultyintheoldestUniversityintheGerman-speakingworld.9Buta‘FacultyofJurisprudence’stakesaclaimtotreatlawasacoherentobjectofstudy.Inthecivillawtradition,dieJurisprudenz,lajurisprudence,connectsphilosophytopracticalwisdomthroughanunderlyinglogic.Klimtsoughttoilluminatearelationshipbetweentheoryandpractice—preciselya‘jurisprudence’—radicallydifferentfromthisself-image.HepaintsaportalintotheFaculty.Weareallowedtofurtivelypeerthroughthekeyholeintotheinnerrecessesofthelaw,butthesceneweglimpsethereisvisceralanddisturbing.Nowondertheyhatedit.Bitterrecriminationsfollowed.TheFacultyPaintingswereneverdisplayedattheUniversity,letaloneinstalledintheGreatHall.Klimtreturnedthecommissionandrefusedtohandoverthepaintings.TheyweresoldtotheLedererfamilyattheendofWorldWarI,onlytobe‘Aryanised’bytheNazisaftertheAnschluss.In1943,theywereremovedforsafe-keepingtoacastlein3Schorske,Fin-de-Sie`cleVienna(n1)231–43.4Whitford(n2)58.5SeeTMarlowe-Storkovich,‘‘‘Medicine’’byGustavKlimt’(2003)ArtibusetHistoriae231.6Schorske,Fin-de-Sie`cleVienna(n1)235–39.7ibid246–47.8KKraus,DieFackel(LeoUnglaubandLoganKennedytr,21November1903)Heft14710–1