History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons^™

A Treasure Hunt: The Interdisciplinary Challenge Of A Digital Humanities Hackathon, Marie Barras, Adélaïde Quenson, Adrien Jeanrenaud, Angela Allemand, Marina Berazategui, Levyn Bürki, Michel Capot, Simon Gabay, Vestin Hategekimana, Pauline Jacsont, Bokar Lamine N'Diaye, Elina Leblanc, Clara May, Anne-Laure Oberson, Margherita Parigini, Lara Pitteloud, Fassaleh Taal, Cédric Viaccoz

Artl@s Bulletin

Abstract: This article tells the story of an interdisciplinary hackathon emphasizing exploration, collaboration, and creative engagement with globalization-related cultural datasets. Participants worked in teams to produce research posters, which were then presented at the opening of the international conference Image Deluge & Globalization in Geneva. The article discusses three projects: one on 19th-century Spanish chapbooks using topic modeling and network analysis; another on leopard motifs in print imagery; and a third on olfactory heritage. The hackathon highlighted both the potential and the limitations of working with digital cultural data, offering insights into interdisciplinary methods.

Résumé: Cet article raconte un hackathon …

Mapping The Multifarious Image In Time Of Globalization, Anne-Laure Oberson

Artl@s Bulletin

Abstract: In this paper, I examine the evolving concept of the image, exploring the philosophical implications of its complex, multifaceted nature. I question the value of terms such as icon, simulacrum, and image in reference to Gilles Deleuze’s text Difference and Repetition. I argue for a pluralistic approach to understanding images as they embody more than a duality of visible-invisible dimensions. I seek to capture the multifariousness of the image to understand its transformative power. In conclusion, the paper suggests reevaluating image discourse to better engage with the evolution of its implications in a global context.

Résumé: Dans cet …

Queens, Pearls And Spirochaetes, Radu Suciu

Artl@s Bulletin

Abstract: In December 2019, the New Zealand AIDS Foundation (now the Burnett Foundation) released a public health campaign raising awareness about the increasing rates of syphilis infections in New Zealand. The campaign consisted of photographs that contrasted contemporary backgrounds of bars and nightclubs with actors wearing theatrical costumes akin to the Elizabethan period. This reinforced the perceived idea that syphilis was a disease resurging from the distant past. This paper discusses one of the campaign’s most iconic portraits by analysing its shared cultural, artistic, and medical references (explicit or implicit) and their shifting meanings through time.

Résumé: En décembre 2019, …

A Deluge Of Sea Images: Maritime Art And Temporal Crisis, Jonathan Stafford

Artl@s Bulletin

Abstract: We are today inundated with images of the sea, with maritime representations of global trade, the refugee crisis, and climate collapse featuring prominently in both journalistic and artistic image worlds alike. These seascapes seem to be possessed of a certain timeliness, speaking to the idiosyncratically temporal nature of our contemporary crisis. This article seeks to historicise the contemporary deluge of maritime imagery, drawing out its connections with the proliferation of the sea image in earlier representational regimes.

Résumé: Nous sommes aujourd’hui inondés d’images de la mer, les représentations maritimes du commerce mondial, de la crise des réfugiés et du …

Intended To Cross National And Cultural Divides: Art Reproductions From The Ikea Store, Nelly Janotka

Artl@s Bulletin

Abstract: This paper provides an overview of some of the findings of my forthcoming dissertation, which examines Ikea’s globally standardized art motifs and their relationship to art historical canons and corresponding systems of power. It focuses on some of the pictorial strategies pursued to cater to customers across national and cultural divides, including the conflicts that come with such an ambitious attempt. Furthermore, the paper illuminates Ikea’s embeddedness in a larger, highly professionalized visual content industry, which views images primarily based on their global marketability and thereby affects the iconographies, compositions, and aesthetics of the motifs circulating globally.

Résumé: Cet …

The Global On Display? Art, Circulation, And The Institutional Framing Of Practices, Florian Rosinski

Artl@s Bulletin

Abstract: This article examines how the notion of “circulation” structures institutional discourse in contemporary art exhibitions focused on digital photography. Drawing on curatorial texts, mediation materials, and interviews from four shows, it uses discourse analysis to show how circulation operates as both a symbolic framework and an organizational logic. While it helps articulate tensions in the global art field, it also neutralizes critique by reaffirming artistic centrality and marginalizing audiences. The study questions whether circulation illuminates or obscures the very power relations it names.

Résumé: Cet article interroge le rôle structurant de la notion de « circulation » dans les …

Brute Force Branding: Variations & Repetitions Of The Almighty Dollar Banknote, Rui-Long Monico

Artl@s Bulletin

Abstract: This paper examines the U.S. dollar as a global brand and mythic icon, revealing how its stable aesthetic asserts dominance and infiltrates daily life. Through visual analysis and global comparison, it shows how banknotes are battlegrounds where art, identity, and geopolitics collide—currency as a weapon of soft power and cultural hegemony. The dollar’s visual inertia—ritualized, repeated, reappropriated—cements its supremacy as a symbolic force, where repetition enforces authority and variation sparks both resistance and conformity. Banknotes emerge as tools of statecraft and vessels of collective memory, as reflected in the author’s bespoke creation accompanying this study.

Résumé: Cet article analyse …

What Makes Art Images Travel So Well? Repetition, Variation, And The Global Life Of Images, Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel

Artl@s Bulletin

What do we actually know about how images become global? This article takes stock of current approaches to studying their worldwide circulation. Drawing on findings from the Visual Contagions project—which maps 15 million illustrations across 18,000 periodicals in more than 50 countries—we now see that in the age of print, only a small fraction of images traveled widely, with art reproductions proving to be the most mobile. The central question, then, is whether this broader circulation of art images is linked to their formal power. When examined from multiple perspectives, the answer cannot be a simple yes. Visual circulation also …

Présence Et Identité Des Collectionneurs Dans Les Biennales (1948-1965), Sophie Dolto, Anthony Chenevard

Artl@s Bulletin

Using exhibition catalogue data from the Artl@s database, this article seeks to define the typology of collectors/owners of works presented at nine international biennials, while quantifying their presence synchronously and transversally, in order to question the homogeneity of the cohort.

En s’appuyant sur les données de catalogues d’exposition issues de la base Artl@s, cet article cherche à définir la typologie des collectionneurs/propriétaires des oeuvres présentées dans neuf biennales internationales, tout en quantifiant leur présence de façon synchronique et transversale, afin d’interroger l’homogénéité de la cohorte observée.

The Computational Eye. Deconstructing Style In Digital Art History, Paul Guhennec, Ellen Charlesworth

Artl@s Bulletin

With the aim of grounding digital methods in the art historic tradition, this paper uses the discussions around style as a springboard to ask how digital art history can extend beyond providing quantitative confirmation of known trends to enrich our current understanding of visual cultures. Drawing from the examples throughout this issue, we explore how an analysis of computational ways of seeing—or the ‘computational eye’—can expose the underlying preoccupations and priorities of our own research.

Afin de mieux ancrer les méthodes numériques dans la tradition de l’histoire de l’art, cet article se sert des discussions récentes autour du concept de …

Style, Nonetheless. Eight Good Reasons To Reject The Notion Of Style; Three Reasons To Use It Nonetheless, Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel

Artl@s Bulletin

This article examines why art historians have distanced themselves from the concept of “style” since the 1960s. It draws on the critiques of Meyer Schapiro and Ernst Gombrich, which were often cited and reinterpreted by post-constructivist and decolonial historiographies since the 1990s. It identifies eight key factors: variability of definitions, normative applications, tendency towards formalism, evolutionary implications, oversimplification, historical ties to racist assumptions, hierarchical effects, and modern Western biases. However, the article argues for distinguishing the cognitive relevance of “style” from its problematic uses, exploring its potential application within a socio-historical framework.

Cet article explore les raisons pour lesquelles les …

How Many Annunciations Are There? Using European Prints To Digitally Explore The Iconographic Style Of Eighteenth-Century Portuguese Azulejos, Rosário S. Carvalho

Artl@s Bulletin

The combination of a computational approach with the expertise of art historians in studying the similarities and differences between European prints and eighteenth-century Portuguese azulejos has led to the emergence of an “iconographic style,” which introduced two major modes of depicting the Annunciation during the period under analysis. The article aims to assess the impact of the circulation of European prints on Portuguese tile coverings to better understand how the images were circulated and to determine their influence in terms of form, style, decoration, iconography and working process on the definition and execution of different iconographic programmes.

En combinant approche …

A Legacy Of Discord: Controversial Meanings In American Mudéjar Style (20th–21st Centuries), Francisco Mamani Fuentes

Artl@s Bulletin

This paper offers an American perspective on the term Mudéjar, examining debates in the study of American colonial art and architecture from the 20th century to the present day. It delves into the debates surrounding its stylistic classification and the resulting ambiguities associated with linking all geometric forms to Islamic aesthetics. The paper concludes that the current application of the term in architectural studies has overlooked criticisms from visual culture studies, which tend to ignore the constructive and design-specific aspects where Mudéjar might hold greater stylistic legitimacy.

Este artículo presenta una perspectiva americana sobre el término Mudéjar, examinando …

No Need Of Styles: Building Up Architectural Historiography, Carmen Popescu

Artl@s Bulletin

If styles lost impetus within the methodology of art historiography, in the (parallel) field of architecture, they were firmly rejected one century ago. One might consider that this more radical positioning (particularly in terms of epistemological tools) constituted the very reason for the undeclared but yet consumed divorce between the two disciplines. Attempting to define its specificity but also the autonomy of the discipline, architectural historiography followed a path less directly preoccupied with aesthetics and closer to functionality and technicity. My paper analyses how architectural historiography built up its idiosyncrasy.

Si les styles en tant que catégorie ont perdu de …

Copy, Style, And Art Historians Scrutiny: A Journey From Aby Warburg Back To C.F. Rumohr, Marco Jalla

Artl@s Bulletin

This article examines J. A. Ramboux’s watercolor copies after Italian Renaissance artworks and their critical reception by art historians. Initially valued for documenting original masterpieces, Ramboux’s copies later drew criticism for stylistic deviations. The analysis reveals the subjective nature of stylistic interpretation and its varying significance in art history, from Rumohr to Warburg. By questioning the criteria for assessing fidelity and authenticity in copy paintings, the article encourages readers to rethink traditional stylistic evaluations and to consider how evolving perspectives shape our understanding of style in art replication.

Cet article examine les copies à l’aquarelle de J. A. Ramboux d’oeuvres …

Manufacturing National Boundaries? The Notion Of Style Between Identity Constructions And Spatial Approaches, Michela Passini

Artl@s Bulletin

Art historians have long been preoccupied by art’s geographical inscription. But it was during the interwar period that research on the geography of art really took off and was recognized as a field of study in its own right. This is evidenced by the organization of an international congress of art history (Stockholm, September 1933) specifically devoted to art geography.

What was the field covered in 1933 by artistic geography? How did it define its objects? And how an art history marked at the time by an extremely present methodological nationalism did shape geographical approaches?

Depuis les débuts de la …

The Inner Form Of Style: On Heinrich Wölfflin’S “Tactical” Formalism, Rémi Mermet

Artl@s Bulletin

In this article, I examine the enduring relevance of Heinrich Wölfflin’s approach to style, in light of the renewed interest in it among “postformalist” art historians. By delving into the theoretical foundations of the Principles of Art History, I explore Wölfflin’s Goethean interpretation of Kantian epistemology, revealing a conception of style characterized by its dynamic and symbolic “inner form” rather than mere static formalism. This analysis not only highlights affinities with Max Weber’s thought but also uncovers a previously overlooked connection to Wilhelm von Humboldt, offering valuable insights for current discussions on style.

Dans cet article, j’étudie la pertinence …

Style Revisited, Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel, Catherine Dossin, Nicola Carboni

Artl@s Bulletin

The resurgence of the concept of 'style' within the realm of artificial intelligence, particularly in the fields of image classification and style transfer, reignites age-old discussions in art history. Despite the success of algorithmic methods, this revival has been met with significant criticism from art historians. A thorough exploration of the history of the concept of style, its evolution, inherent ambiguities, and diverse applications underscores the challenges art history faces in integrating new computational approaches that aim to describe and analyze styles. This is the central theme of this issue of the Artl@s Bulletin, for which we invited a diverse …

From The Outside, Looking In: Reflections On The Complex Infrastructures Of African Art History, Joanna Gardner-Huggett

Artl@s Bulletin

This essay engages with the five articles featured in this issue from the perspective of a non-specialist. Each contribution considers challenges facing scholars of African arts when confronted with incomplete and not always reliable historical evidence. The author contends that given the escalating demands for the repatriation of African objects, all art historians— not only art historians focused on African arts—should better understand the important strategies proposed by contributors to this issue. These interventions encourage the development of a more critical audience for African arts and also model ethical research, a slow critical archival practice, and sustainable provenance and digital …

Art And Evidence In Totems Of Uganda (2014), Margaret Nagawa, Taga F. Nuwagaba

Artl@s Bulletin

In his painting and book project, Totems of Uganda: Buganda Edition (2014), Ugandan artist Taga Nuwagaba asks: What is the function of a totem? In Buganda, the historical kingdom in current-day Uganda, totems serve as unique identifiers for fifty-two distinct patrilineal descent groups designated as clans, or ebika in the Luganda language, forming the primary scheme of social and political organization. Yet, totems also serve as a conservation practice. In this 2022 interview, Nuwagaba discussed his art and the evidence he relies upon to create his images, demonstrating that identities and knowledges are complex.

Munna Uganda Taga Nuwagaba abuuza nti: …

You Cannot See It: Navigating Yorùbá Religious Artistic Materials, Stephen A. Fọlárànmí

Artl@s Bulletin

My research spanning two decades in Ọ̀yọ́ Palace generated series of questions about access to artistic materials in site-locational spaces, archives and private collections. I probe how scholars have navigated and negotiated these terrains, especially artworks created for religious functions. I explore alternatives to resolve field challenges and consider the effects of such hindrances in art historical research. Drawing on the concept of ọ̀gbẹ̀rì, anecdotes and personal scholarly experiences, I interrogate research access and propose approaches based on personal experience on the importance of Yoruba religion, and practice of initiation.

Iṣẹ́ ìwádì mi fún bíi ogún ọdún sẹ́yìn lórí ààfin …

Shaky Foundations: Cultural Classifications In Museum Collections Management Systems And The Endurance Of Colonial-Era Terminology, Carlee S. Forbes, Erica P. Jones

Artl@s Bulletin

This article uses two musical instruments with attached ancestral remains and labeled as “Asante” from the Fowler Museum at UCLA to consider effects of style-based cultural classifications that appear in museum databases today. We highlight the sway of past classifications over our current understanding of objects that is prolonged by the problem of confirmation-bias in museum collections management systems. We then indicate how working across disciplines stimulated a more nuanced understanding about the complexities of artistic styles for musical instruments with attached human remains in the Akan-speaking region of West Africa.

Cet article étudie deux instruments de musique incorporant des …

Shifting Approaches, Innovative Methods: Collection Histories As A Tool To Move Beyond William Fagg’S ‘Lower Niger Bronze Industry Mystery’, Imogen Coulson, Julie Hudson, Sam Nixon

Artl@s Bulletin

At the end of 2019, the British Museum launched a new research project focusing on copper alloy objects associated with the Lower Niger Bronze Industry. The aim was to increase knowledge of these objects through a combination of provenance and collection history research and scientific analysis. This paper will outline the earlier art historical-focused approach to the Lower Niger Bronzes corpus and will then describe the new research and its methodology. Initial findings will be presented through a case study of objects from the Forcados River in the Niger Delta region of present-day Nigeria. In doing so, we aim to …

Making Absences Present: The Process Of Visualizing Knowledge Production In Museum Records, Caitlin Glosser

Artl@s Bulletin

In this paper, I evaluate the development of data visualizations as an art historical approach. By visualizing data for Senufo-labeled objects in the Musée Africain de Lyon’s collection, I demonstrate how the museum’s knowledge infrastructure privileges European collectors over African makers. I use Tableau visualizations to decenter this narrative by making silences present in a more impactful manner than through text alone. The visualizations also reveal the complex role that one maker, Bèma Coulibaly, played in the life of the collection. The addition of the individual narrative to the data was necessary to bring a human element into view.

Nous …

Technologies Of Recovery And Discovery: The Poetics Of “Artefacts”, Kathryn Simpson

Artl@s Bulletin

This article discusses the ways that objects, specifically personal belongings, held in British collections have their stories muted to become imperial signifiers. Using two pieces of jewellery acquired in 1859 by David Livingstone, British missionary and traveller (1813-1873), a lip ring from a Mang’anja woman in present day Malawi and a bracelet from the Kafue valley in present day Zambia, this article evidences how digital tools can be used to layer, in a palimpsestic way, the information available about colonially collected objects, to locate them physically, in the space they inhabit, and narratively, in the space they create.

En este …

What Does It Mean To Keep Kissing-Close To The Evidence, And Why Might It Matter?, Susan Elizabeth Gagliardi, Constantine Petridis

Artl@s Bulletin

African art specialists often lack detailed information to assess the original meanings, uses, and contexts of so-called historical or traditional arts of Africa, and they rely on indirect evidence to interpret the works. Thus, claims about African arts often reflect speculation rather than irrefutable details. When specific documentation for an object does exist, the circumstances of its creation require careful evaluation as well. The assessment of the quality and reliability of any claim is of particular importance in attempts to determine an object’s place of origin in the ongoing debates about restitution.

Les Expositions Turnus, Une Page D’Histoire Transnationale Des Beaux-Arts En Suisse À La Fin Du Xixe Siècle. Et Comment Découvrir Les Humanités Numériques, Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel

Artl@s Bulletin

Cet article présente le travail de la classe d’introduction aux humanités numériques de l’Université de Genève sur les expositions Turnus en Suisse à partir des années 1840. Près de 50 catalogues ont été retranscrits, décrits et structurés à l’aide de scripts Python, puis géolocalisés. Les données ont été ajoutées à BasArt, le répertoire mondial de catalogues d’expositions d’Artl@s (https://artlas.huma-num.fr/map). Elles permettent de mieux comprendre les premières années de ces expositions et leurs dynamiques locales, fédérales et internationales. Le Turnus fut une plaque tournante pour les artistes suisses, voire un tremplin vers le marché européen de l’art.

Une Europe Par Les Arts ? Les Périodiques Illustrés Au-Delà Du Musée Imaginaire, Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel, Marie Barras, Nicola Carboni

Artl@s Bulletin

Existe-t- il un musée imaginaire européen ? Cet article aborde la question par le biais des illustrations de presse des années 1880-1960. Dans les périodiques illustrés de cette époque, les images d’art traversèrent mieux les frontières que les images non artistiques, en particulier en Europe. Mais plutôt que de conclure à un musée imaginaire européen, une étude multiscalaire plus fine incite à se pencher sur les facteurs sociaux, esthétiques, économiques et techniques de la circulation imprimée des images artistiques.

L’Étoffe De L’Europe, Adeline Rispal

Artl@s Bulletin

Le tissage est le fil conducteur des interventions artistiques qui ont marqué la présidence française dans les bâtiments du Conseil de l’Union européenne à Bruxelles de janvier à juin 2022. Il exprime le travail, la patience, l’agilité et la fragilité face à la monumentalité des bâtiments, et le collectif dans sa force de proposition et d’action et dans sa capacité de résilience. Nous avons créé un textile complexe, joyeux et pétillant, dont la chaîne est composée des couleurs des 27 drapeaux des États de l’Union et la trame l’est des drapeaux des présidences successives, une sorte de data-tissage que nous …

Mediatization Of The Early Automobile: A Visual Analysis Of The Illustrated Press In The Late 19th And Early 20th Century, Nicola Carboni

Artl@s Bulletin

The paper presents a digital analysis of automobile imagery in the early 20th-century press, examining the mediatization of the anti-car movement and the role images played in conveying and furthering the activist discourse. To investigate the phenomenon, the author compiled and analyzed over 5,000 images from in 185 journals published in 45 cities between 1891 and 1950. The analysis revealed a preponderance of positive representations of the automobile in the press, whilst evidence of negative sentiment towards the automobile, such as protests and accidents, was conspicuously absent, with the exception of satirical publications.