Gertrud Bingʼs Academic Writings

Gertrud Bing (1892–1964) was a pioneer in many respects. She was the first doctoral student of philosopher Ernst Cassirer at the University of Hamburg, as well as an assistant to art and cultural historian Aby Warburg at his Library of Cultural Studies (KBW). She adopted Warburg’s new perspective on ancient images—summarized under the term “the afterlife of antiquity”—, and developed it further, together with colleagues such as art historian Fritz Saxl. She was also the first and, to date, only woman to serve as director of the Warburg Institute (WI) in London. 

Bing was primarily active as an academic organizer. However, she also produced scholarly works, all of which are part of a dialogue with Cassirer, Warburg, Saxl, the KBW, and the WI spanning more than forty years. Finally, she wrote several drafts for a biography of Warburg, but never completed it. All these texts are now to be collected, compiled, and published in their original languages, German and English, for the first time.