What we know of Art History today
actually has its roots back to the 19th
century, but what the study is about,
dates back to the ancient world.
The art historians depend on the
semiotics, formal analysis, iconography
and psychoanalysis for understanding
the history of a piece of art.
After the World War II when
photographic imitation and printing
techniques improved, reproduction
of artworks became easier.
Technologies as such have tremendously
helped the study of Art History to
progress in profound ways, as they have
facilitated easy evaluation of objects.
Thus, the study of visual arts can
be described as a practice that
involves understanding social
significance, context and form of art.
The chronological pillar
of the study is the
commemorative history
of beautiful creations
commissioned by public or religious bodies
or prosperous individuals in Western Europe.
A renowned example is “canon”
which remains prominent to
this day, and even has its mention
on the history textbooks.
However, there has been an effort
made since the 20th century,
to define the study to be more
comprehensive of non-western art.
In the modern years, Art History has come
up as a study that focusses in educating
people how to assess and construe works of
art established on their own perception.
Often, Art history has been criticized
for its biased nature, because every
individual has their own point of
view of seeing and defining things.
The study of Art History
teaches you to appraise what
you see based on the art
forms that you know already.
This eventually develops your aesthetic
understanding of a piece of art.
Those interested in the
study of Art History are
taught how to evaluate
artefacts by numerous methods.
It is difficult to understand the subject
without knowing about the methods.
Methods of studying Art History
The Art Historians utilize several methods
while researching the history of objects and
studying the nature of the being of the art,
it’s creation, existence and authenticity.
They mostly examine any
work of art in the
perspective of the time
when it was created.
This is done in the best
way, keeping in mind the
respect of the creator’s
inspiration and constraints;
along with contemplation of requests
and predispositions of its patrons.
A comparative study of the themes and
tactics of the creator’s teacher
is also done considering the symbolism
and iconography of the art.
In short, it can be said that,
the world in which the art
was created is deeply examined
by the Art Historians.
Art History includes the examining of
the work through the study of the form,
which is, the use of shape, line, texture,
composition and color by the artist.
This helps identifying if the creator
has used a two dimensional or three
dimensional picture plane of the architectural
or cultural space to create the art.
The manner in which these
elements are used, resulting in
different kinds of art known
as imitative or abstract art.
When the artist creating an art, in
the imitation of another image or
object, then the piece of work is called
representational or imitative art.
The art is known to be
more realistic when the
creator is able to create
a perfect imitation.
When the artist is not trying to
make an imitation of an image or
object, instead relies on symbolism
to capture the essence of nature,
rather than directly
copying it as it is, it is
called non-representational
or abstract art.
Abstraction and Realism
subsists on a continuum.
For example impressionism is a
representational form of art, but it is not
directly imitative, but an attempt
to create an impression of nature.
If the work of art is not representational,
instead, is an expression of the
creator’s aspiration and feelings, or
simply a quest for ideal beauty and form,
it is known as non-representational
work or an art of expressionism.
An analysis of iconography
is one in which the focus
is kept on the particular
design of the element.
With a close examination of such elements,
the Art Historians are able to trace their
descent and come to a
conclusion of the origin
and root of the themes
of a particular art.
It is possible to make many observations
in regards to the cultural, social,
aesthetic and economic value which were
responsible for the creation of the art.
Art Historians use the
critical theory as a base
to structure their
investigation of the works.
Theory is mostly used when the
historians are dealing with more
recent objects, like those from the
late 19th century and onwards.
If we talk about how the critical
theory get its matter, well,
it can be said that it is often the
work of the literary scholars that
they borrow to form the analytical
base of the study of the art work.
The subject of critical theory
is responsible in establishing
theories such as Marxist, Feminist,
Postcolonial and Critical race.
As in the study of literature,
you will notice that the
scholars take keen interest in
the environment and nature,
but what turn it will take on the
critical study is yet to be determined.
Pliny the Elder
The earliest writing on
art to have survived to
this date and can be
categorized as Art History,
are paragraphs from the
book Natural History
written by Pliny the
Elder in AD 77-79.
The writing was about the Greek
painting, and sculpture.
It is from them that the idea of Xenokrates
of Sicyon of BC 280 can be traced.
Xenokrates was a Greek
sculptor and writer
and one of the world’s
first Art Historians.
Pliny’s work consists mainly
of an encyclopaedia based on
science, which has been influential
after the age of Renaissance.
In the meanwhile developments
occurred in China in the 6th century,
and many worthy artists were
recognized by the scholar-gentry.
These writers were artists themselves being
essentially talented in calligraphy.
There is a book written
by Xie He, Six Principles
of Painting, which describes
the artists of China.
Vasari and Artist’s Biographies
Giorgio Vasari was the Tuscan
author, sculptor, architect
and painter who wrote the
first true history of art.
The personal memoirs of the artists
and their arts have been read
by many from the book of Lives of
the Painters, written by Vasari.
He highlighted the evolution
and development of
art which created a milestone
in the Art History.
The account that he has
mentioned in the book about the
painters has a both personal
and historical touch to it,
it features the biographies
of Italian artists many of
whom were his personal
acquaintances and colleagues.
Michelangelo also been described as
the greatest artists of all time
also had a biography written by
Vasari, which was very enlightening.
Vasari influenced many,
mainly by his unique ideas
about art, he served as
a model for several.
His style and approach was highly persuasive
until the 18th century and that is
when the criticism came along and razed
at his biographical account of history.
Art Criticism
Johann Joachim Wincklemann (1717-1768)
was a scholar, he criticized
Vasari’s offbeat artistic personality
and argued about the fact
that emphasis should be made
on the views of the learned
men rather than the viewpoints
of fascinating artists.
That is how Art Criticism came to exist;
through the writings of Wincklemann.
Out of the many works he did, two of the
most notable works that brought the
conception of art criticism were, Reflections
of Painting and Sculpture of Greeks and
History of Art in Antiquity
published in Greek in 1755.
In the book Wincklemann criticise the
artistic immoderations of Rococo and
Baroque forms of art, and suggested more
sober forms of art like Neoclassicism.
Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897) who was
one of the founders of Art History.
He noticed that Wincklemann was the first
person to have distinguished between the
periods of ancient art, and linked the history
of art styles with the world’s history.
Until the mid of the 20th
century the area of art history
was subjugated by the
academics who were German.
Therefore, it can be sad
that his work was the
foundation of art history
in the German culture.
Johann Wolfgang Goethe and Friedrich
Schiller inspired by the works
of Wincklemann, both commenced their
own work on the history of art.
The initiation of art as a major subject
of theoretical speculation was made
strong by works like a critique of Judgement
by Immanuel Kant in the year 1790.
Furthermore, Lectures on
Aesthetics by Hegel only
made the foundation of
art history stronger.
One philosopher was inspired
by another and the art
history made a strong base
through the works of them.
Karl Schnaase was highly inspired by the
works of Hegel and was responsible in
establishing the philosophical foundation
of art history as an independent subject.
He conducted one of the first
historic surveys of the
Art History from the ancient
times to the Renaissance.
This immensely helped art history to be
taught in the German speaking universities.
Stylistic Study
Jacob Burckhardt being one of
the founders of art history was
mentor to many, Heinrich Wolfflin
(1864-1945) was one of them.
Now he is known as the father
of the modern history.
He taught in the universities of
Basel, Munich, Zurich and Berlin.
A number of pupils made a bright future for
themselves in the career of art history.
Wolfflin introduced the perspective
of art history by giving
it a scientific approach
concentrating on three concepts.
His first concept was to
study art with the use of
psychology, especially with
the help of Wilhelm Wundt.
Wundt was the first person to have
called himself a psychologist.
One of the many things that
Wolfflin argued about was that art
and architecture are good if they
resemble the human structure.
The second concept was the idea of
studying art through comparison.
When an art is compared to another it is
easier to distinguish different styles.
The book he wrote Renaissance and Baroque
was based on this idea, and it was
a first of its kind to show how one
period style differed from the other.
Unlike Giorgio Vasari, Wolfflin was
not interested in biographies of
artists, he had also proposed to
create art history without any names.
The third concept of studying art
based on the idea of nationhood.
He showed an extra interest
in finding out if there
was particularly an Italian
style and a German style.
Vienna School
Coexistent with the career
of Wolfflin, University
of Vienna a major school
of Art History developed.
Franz Wickhoff and Alois Riegl were the
first batch students of the University
of Vienna to have studied under Moritz
Thausing, and both were bright students.
Both were specialized to assess the
neglected or criticized work of art.
Both Riegl and Wickhoff wrote widely
on the late antiquity of art,
which seemed to be declining from
the classical ideal before them.
Revaluation of the Baroque was
also a contribution from Riegl.
The University of Vienna had a faculty
including important people like
Max Dvorak, Hans Tietze, Josef
Strzygowski and Julis Von Schlosser.
Many who studied in this
university were important art
historians of the 20th century
including Ernst Gombrich.
The term Second Vienna School or
New Vienna School refers to the
institute opened by the passed out
students of the University of Vienna,
including Hans Sedlmayr, Guido
Kaschnitz Von Weinberg and Otto Pacht.
They began the school in the 1930s, they
intended to work on the concept of Riegl,
even tried to develop it the
concept of Kuntstwollen
into a full-fledged
methodology of art history.
Sedlmayr, excluded the study
of patronage, iconography
and other methods used in
the context of art history,
instead he emphasized to concentrate
on the aesthetic qualities of art.
This resulted in a bad
name for the Second Vienna
School due to irresponsible
and unrestricted formalism,
adding shade to it was the
unconcealed racism of
Sedlmayr and his membership
in the Nazi party.
Iconography
In the 1920s a group of
professors assembled in Hamburg.
Erwin Panofsky, Fritz Saxi and Aby Warburg
were the most prominent amongst them.
The three of them
established most of the
vocabulary used by the art
historians till today.
The Meaning of Iconography is symbols
from the text, which refers to the theme
of art resulting from the written
sources like folklore and scriptures.
Iconology is a wider term
which is which refers
to symbolism in general,
it is not text specific.
The art historians of today often
interchangeably use these terms.
Panofsky took to the theories
of Riegl at the beginning
of his career, but later got
engrossed in Iconography.
He had a particular interest in
the conduction of themes relating
to the ancient classical history
of middle ages and Renaissance.
Panofsky was a professor in
the University of Hamburg.
His interests were shared with Warburg,
who belonged to a wealthy family.
Warburg’s family had opened a
remarkable library dedicated to
the study of classical mythology
of art and culture in Hamburg.
Later, under the Sponsorship of
Saxi, this library was turned into
a research institute, associated
with the University of Hamburg.
After the death of Warburg
in the year 1929, Saxi and
Panofsky, who were both Jewish,
were made to leave Hamburg.
Both found new destinations for themselves.
Panofsky found a place for himself in the
Institute of Advanced study in Princeton.
Saxi established himself in
London, bringing along the
library of Warburg, founding
the Warburg Institute.
Both of them were German speaking
men with extraordinary knowledge as
art historians stepping into English
speaking universities in the 1930s
who were still novices in
the subject of art history.
These Scholars were the ones
accountable for establishment of art
history as an independent field of
study in the English universities.
Adding to which, the course
of art history of America was
determined, particularly due
to Panofsky’s methodology.
Psychoanalysis
One of the scholars who appealed psychological
theories to art history was Heinrich
Wolfflin, however, he was not the only
one to have thought in that direction.
Sigmund Freud, the founder
of psychoanalysis, wrote
a book on the renowned
artist Leonardo Da Vinci,
he used the artist’s
paintings to cross-examine
his psyche and his
sexual inclination.
Freud concluded from the
analysis he made by
Leonardo, that he was most
probably a homosexual.
It is contentious among
the art historian to
perform psychoanalysis on
retrospective material,
particularly because the
sexual behaviour were
different in times of
Leonardo’s than of Freud’s.
Psychoanalysis is still
endeavoured by scholars.
Laurie Schneider Adams is one of the
renowned psychoanalytic scholar, who wrote a
textbook by the name of Art Across Time, and
a book called the Art and Psychoanalysis.
In the year 1914 when
Sigmund Freud printed the
psychoanalytical version
of Michelangelo’s Moses,
the history of art criticism
took an unpredictable turn
as it was the first ever
psychoanalysis on a work of art.
Freud had originally printed this
anonymously for reasons unknown.
Archetypes
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, and
the founder of analytical psychology.
Like every other scholar, he was a
unique and influential thinker as well.
He had a different approach to psychology
and emphasized on understanding the
psyche through the exploration of the worlds
of mythology, dream, art and religion.
He concentrated most of the years
of his life in Western and Eastern
philosophy, sociology, astrology,
alchemy, arts and literature.
His most well-known contributions
include works such as, the collective
unconscious, theory of synchronicity and
his concept of psychological archetype.
Jung did not believe in coincidences,
he suggested that indication
of corresponding events is a mere
reflection of our lifestyles.
He debated on the point
that archetypal imagery and
collectible unconscious
were perceived in art.
The American Abstract
expressionist was particularly
moved by is ideas in
the 1940s and 1950s.
His work was the core inspiration
of the surrealist concept
of drawing images from the
dreams and unconsciousness.
Jung stressed on the importance
of harmony and balance in nature.
He warned that the modern times human has
become too dependent on science and would
benefit from assimilating little spirituality
and escalate their unconscious realms.
Jung’s work elicited the
work of art historian along
with becoming an essential
part of creating art too.
Jackson Pollock an American painter
created few art works along
with his sessions of psychoanalysis
given by Dr. Joseph Henderson.
Later Pollock’s drawings
were published by Henderson
to display the power of
drawing as a therapy.
The heritage of Psychoanalytical
art history is deeply
rooted and carries on even
after Jung and Freud.
Griselda Pollock the prominent
Feminist art historian induces
psychoanalysis in her readings
of contemporary and modern art.
Psychoanalysis has had
a great impact on the
men and women artists
of the modern world.
Ideology and Marx
In the 20th century the art
historians incorporated social
history using the critical
approaches of the art critics.
The aim was to show
how art can interact
with the powerful
assemblies of the society.
One of the many critical approaches used
by the art historians was the Marxism.
The Marxist art history was a
method of understanding the
art as to how it was connected
to the specific classes
and how images contained knowledge of
economy and how images can define status.
The best recognized Marxist
was Clement Greenberg, in the
late 1930s, he wrote an essay
on avant-garde and kitsch
describing how the consumer
society is becoming
the cause of the declining
aesthetic standards.
Later in his career, he became well known
for examining modern art properties.
Meyer Schapiro is another renowned Marxist
Art Historian of the same period.
Of all his works about themes
in art, he is best remembered
for his remarks on the sculpture
from the early Renaissance.
In which he had seen evidence of the rise
of capitalism and the decline of Feudalism.
The Social History of Art
was a book written on the
first Marxist study of Western
Art, by Arnold Hauser.
His attempts were to show
the world how classy
cognizance was reflected
throughout the major art eras.
When published in the 1950s there
were several controversies,
as the book has bluntly
generalized particular eras.
The same strategy is now given
a name - vulgar Marxism.
Marxism Art History was given
a new definition by the
scholars namely, O.K. Werckmeister, T.J.
Clark, David Kunzle,
Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno at
the University of California Los Angeles.
T.J. Clark wrote Marxist art
histories based on many realist and
impressionist artists including
Edouard Manet and Gustave Courbet,
these books dedicated to
the economic and political
conditions in which
the art was produced.
He was the first Marxist
art historian to
have written about
abandoning Vulgar Marxism.
Feminist Art History
Why have there been no great women artists?
An essay written by Linda Nochlin,
provoked the feminist art history in
the 1970s, it is the most widely
read essay about the female artists.
Followed by the 1972 College Art
Association board with Nochlin as the
chairperson, authorized eroticism and
image of woman in 19th century art.
In a decade’s time there was a wave
of feminist movement, where high
interaction of women in the art, both
as a subject and artists was observed.
The essay written by Nochlin,
had a lot to say about
the women being restricted
from the field of art.
Few exceptions’ who succeeded in
proving their worth were treated
as anomalies and were not given the
chance at becoming successful.
Another well-known feminist art
historian figure was Griselda
Pollock, who was a scholar
of psychoanalysis theory.
Feminist art history in
the modern era gave women
new opportunities to
experience and understand art.
There are many works produced by the
Feminist art history, critical re-readings
of various arts, such as the Les
Demoiselles d’Avignon by Carol Duncan.
Norma Broude and Marry Garrad
were two pioneers of art history
and were the founders of
Feminist Art History Conference.
Their works consisted of
The Expanding Discourse:
Feminism Art and History,
Questioning the Litany and
Reclaiming Feminist Agency: Feminism
Art and History after Postmodernism.
All these books are a
considerable effort made to
bring the feminist
perceptions of art history.
Semiotics
Unlike Iconography, which
identifies the significance of art,
Semiotics is apprehensive about
how the meaning is formed.
Roland Barthes was a French
literary theorist and philosopher.
His implied, and designated meanings are
principal to this kind of examination.
In a work of art, the interpretation
of it depends on, the identification
of the meaning it denotes that
is recognising the visual sign,
and the meaning that it
connotes that is the
cultural association that
it instantly recognizes.
A semiotic art historian’s
main concern is
to understand the
meaning-making of the art.
Semiotic art history’s work is to expose
the codified meaning of an artistic
object by examining its connection to a
set of shared beliefs of the historians.
Historians do not rely on a particular
brand semiotics, they instead create
an incorporated version which they add
to their analytical implementation.
For instance, Meyer Schapiro
referred to Saussure’s work
on different meanings to
understand to read the signs.
He believed that, in order to understand
the art in a particular symbolic
perspective, it needs to be viewed
in different aspects of the profile.
Meyer Schapiro joined this method
with Charles Sanders Peirce’s work,
whose sign, object and interpretant
gave a base for his approach.
Alex Potts demonstrated the
application of Peirce’s ideas to
visual illustration by examining
Mona Lisa in relation to them.
When you look at the painting of
Mona Lisa and try to identify a
sign that the painting is trying
to convey beyond its materiality.
It eventually leads to the
realization that the art is
denoting an object outside of
itself, Mona Lisa, or a woman.
There is no religious
meaning which the picture
denotes, therefore it can
be called a portrait.
This interpretation in turn leads
to a series of other possible
interpretations to questions like,
how was sitter related to Leonardo?
What was her significance
in Leonardo’s life?
Or, maybe Leonardo portrayed her as
an icon for the entire woman race.
This series of questions
that needs interpretation,
or unlimited semiosis
has been never-ending.
The job of an Art Historian is
to limit the interpretation
to as much as required to
divulge new prospects.
The study of Semiotics works on
the principle that an object
of art can be implicit by the
viewer’s perception only.
The creator of the art is replaced by the
observer as the transmitter of its meaning,
to such an extent that an
interpretation is valid by all means
regardless of what the creator
had intended to mean by the art.
Rosalind Krauss adopted
this notion in the
essay that she wrote In
the Name of Picasso”.
She deplored the meaning in which the
artist had created the work of art,
and asserted that the meaning
of the art can be derived only
once the art has been detached
from its historical context.
Another art historian by the name of
Mieke Bal debated on the same thing
that the meaning of the art does not
exist until witnessed by the viewer.
Feminism and psychoanalysis
is only possible
after acknowledging the
meaning of the art.
Museum studies
In the course of Art
History, aspects of new
subjects have come to light
in the modern times.
In the recent decades,
interests have grown
towards the patronage
of the arts, there are
art markets and collectors who shown intentions
and ambitions in the trade of the arts.
Museum studies have been a
discipline of delight for
those who want to pursue
this dream extensively.
There is a specialized field
known as the history of
collecting and display and
history of the museum.
New Materialism
Science has made much progress
over the years and along
with it has the technique’s
to investigate antique arts.
The X-ray and infrared ray are
now being used to study many
underdrawings, its photographic
technology makes the paintings visible.
Even a proper investigation of the
pigments used in the paint is
possible to identify, which in
turn has upset many ascriptions.
Radiocarbon Dating and Dendrochronology for
panel painting, advanced techniques as such
have made dating of objects or to upset dates
resulting from stylist study possible.
Improvement of color photographs,
and the availability of them on the
internet has literally transformed
the study of various types of art,
most importantly the arts which are
large in number such as the Persian
miniatures and the illuminated manuscripts
and other archaeological creations.
Contemporaneous to all the technological
progressions, art historians have shown
growing interest in new speculative
approaches to understand the nature of arts.
New theories like the art-network
theory, object-oriented ontology and
thing theory have been extensively
useful in the historical literature.
Divisions by period
Art has been bifurcated into
specializations according to different
eras and areas, it is done so
for an easier identification.
So the art historians can
also choose their areas of
interest and concentrate
in specializing in them,
for example, some may specialize in the
16th century Tuscan Sculpture while some
would be more inclined towards specializing
in 19th century German Architecture.
You will often find that sub-fields are
included under one specialization, like,
the ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt known
to be special focus on the Ancient art.
Sometimes the sub-fields
have close association
while for a few there could
be no strings attached.
To summarize it all, Art History is the
study of the human countenance keeping
in mind the spatial, visual and tactile
views of an art, through history.
In the long run Art
Historians have developed new
ideas and methods to translate
the visual to aural.
This has been made possible by
using numerous methodologies
and different approaches of
analysis and interpretation.
The study of art history makes the historians
extra sensitive towards understanding the
deeper meaning of the art objects, and the
meaning it contributes to our societies.
The methodologies were invented by
the learned men of the 19th century.
One inspired by the works of other
evolved through the ages, the outcome of
which is, today we have hi-tech methods
of understanding the nature of an art.
Art seems to be interesting
when it claims to
have a symbolic value,
understanding the symbols
and interpreting attitude
and the realities
it reflects of the time
when it was created,
is an adventurous journey
for the Art historians.
Art history plays a major
role in our lives.
Through the interpretations of art
by the art historians, we have been
able to understand the lives of the
humankind that existed centuries ago.
Their recreations, interests, lifestyle,
a lot can be interpreted by art.
The interpretation of the political, economic
and religious views of their times was
mainly important as it was a foundation of
the culture and society we live in today.
Art History has immensely
progressed from where it
had started, and it continues
to evolve by the day.
The study of art history as an autonomous
discipline was a very important step taken,
the various contributions of the scholars
and philosophers are tremendously helpful.
They have spent years to describe,
analyse or criticize pieces of
art and yet if you walk yourself
to a museum full of artefacts,
you will be amazed to find
yourself involuntarily
drowning in the mystery
of the artefacts.
Your mind will be full of questions
regarding the story behind a
particular piece of art and that
is when you refer to Art History,
because the historians
have taken the pain on
your behalf to find those
answers for the world.
