Gottfried Boehm (; born 1942) is a German

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Life

Boehm studied art history, philosophy and German in Cologne, Vienna and Heidelberg. He obtained his ''Promotion'' (doctorate) in philosophy in 1968 and his ''Habilitation'' in 1974 in art history. From 1975 to 1979 he taught art history at the

Ruhr-Universität Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

. In 1979 he was made professor of art history at the

Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von ...

. In 1986 Boehm moved to the

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

, where since 2005 he has also been director of the Swiss national research project "Eikones / NCCR Iconic Criticism". In 1993-94 Gottfried Boehm was fellow of the Wiener Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (Institute for Advanced Studies) and in 2001-02 fellow at the

Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin (german: Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is modeled ...

. Since 2006 he is a corresponding member of the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Work

In his work Gottfried Boehm is particularly influenced by

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...

and

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...

and by the hermeneutic thought of

Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 ''magnum opus'', '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''), on hermeneutics. Life Family ...

. He has worked on the theory of art and perception in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

, the 19th and 20th centuries, on contemporary art and on general questions of modernity. Recently he has been particularly prominent for his contributions to the history and theory of images, initiating an iconic turn. Beyond this he has advanced the concept of iconic difference. Gottfried Boehm is regarded, along with

Hans Belting Hans Belting (born 7 July 1935 in Andernach, Rhine Province) is a German art historian and theorist of medieval and Renaissance art, as well as contemporary art and image theory. He was born in Andernach, Germany, and studied at the universities ...

and Horst Bredekamp, as one of the leading theoreticians of art in the German-speaking world. Boehm is a prominent figure in the field of '' Bildwissenschaft'' ("image-science"). His account of ''Bildwissenschaft'' draws on

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

and the work of

Maurice Merleau-Ponty Maurice Jean Jacques Merleau-Ponty. (; 14 March 1908 – 3 May 1961) was a French phenomenological philosopher, strongly influenced by Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. The constitution of meaning in human experience was his main interest an ...

, Hans Jonas,

Arthur Danto Arthur Coleman Danto (January 1, 1924 – October 25, 2013) was an American art critic, philosopher, and professor at Columbia University. He was best known for having been a long-time art critic for ''The Nation'' and for his work in philosophi ...

Meyer Schapiro Meyer Schapiro (23 September 1904 – 3 March 1996) was a Lithuanian-born American art historian known for developing new art historical methodologies that incorporated an interdisciplinary approach to the study of works of art. An expert on earl ...

Kurt Bauch Kurt Bauch (25 November 1897 in Neustadt-Glewe – 1 March 1975 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German art historian with particular interest in the art of Rembrandt. The son of a Mecklenburg judge, Bauch studied art history at the University o ...

and

Max Imdahl Max Imdahl (September 6, 1925 in Aachen – October 11, 1988 in Bochum) was a German art historian specialized in art historical methodology and the interpretation of modern art after World War II. Life and work Imdahl studied studio painting ...

. Boehm addresses questions around the

of viewing and pictorial representation and the question of medium. He also seeks to understand the cognitive processes involved in the presentation and perception of images, and their differences from linguistic processes.

Publications

Monographs: *''Wie Bilder Sinn erzeugen - Die Macht des Zeigens'', Berlin 2007. *''Der Maler Max Weiler: Das Geistige in der Natur'', Vienna, New York 2001. *''Museum der klassischen Moderne: Zwanzig Meisterwerke der modernen Kunst'', Frankfurt 1997. *''Paul Cézanne: Montagne Sainte-Victoire'', Frankfurt 1988. *''Bildnis und Individuum. Über den Ursprung der Porträtmalerei in der italienischen Renaissance'', Munich 1985. *''Studien zur Perspektivität. Philosophie und Kunst in der frühen Neuzeit'', Heidelberger Forschungen Nr. 13, Diss. Heidelberg 1969. As editor: *''Ikonologie der Gegenwart'', Munich 2008. (with Horst Bredekamp) *''Movens Bild. Zwischen Evidenz und Affekt'', Munich 2008. *''Figur und Figuration: Studien zu Wahrnehmung und Wissen'', Munich 2007. *''Henri Matisse: Figur, Farbe, Raum'', Ostfildern 2005 *''Homo pictor'', Munich 2001. *''Konstruktionen, Sichtbarkeiten: Interventionen'', Wien 1999. *''Cézanne und die Moderne'', Ostfildern 1999. *''Gesammelte Schriften von Max Imdahl'', Frankfurt 1996. *''Beschreibungskunst - Kunstbeschreibung: Ekphrasis von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Munich 1995. *''Was ist ein Bild?'' Munich 1995. *''Individuum: Probleme der Individualität in Kunst, Philosophie und Wissenschaft'', Stuttgart 1994. *''Modernität und Tradition: Festschrift für Max Imdahl zum 60. Geburtstag'', Munich 1985. *''Seminar: Die Hermeneutik und die Wissenschaften'', Frankfurt 1985. *''Schriften zur Kunst von Konrad Fiedler'', 2 vols., Munich 1971. Essays (selection): *"Representation, Presentation, Presence: Tracing the Homo Pictor", in: ''Iconic Power. Materiality and Meaning in Social Life'', ed. Jeffrey C. Alexander, Dominik Bartmanski, and Bernhard Giesen, New York 2012; pp. 15–23. *"Ce qui se montre. De la différence iconique", in ''Penser l'image'', ed. Emmanuel Alloa, Paris, Les Presses du réel, 2010, pp. 27–47. *"Das Bild und die hermeneutische Reflexion", in: ''Dimensionen des Hermeneutischen. Heidegger und Gadamer'', ed. Martin-Heidegger-Gesellschaft. Schriftenreihe, Band 7, Frankfurt am Main, 2005, pp. 23–35. *"Jenseits der Sprache? Anmerkungen zur Logik der Bilder", in: ''Iconic Turn. Die Neue Macht der Bilder'', ed. Christa Maar and Hubert Burda, Cologne 2004, pp. 28–43. *"Der stumme Logos. Elemente einer Bildwissenschaft", in: ''Jahrbuch des Wissenschaftskollegs zu Berlin'', Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin 2001/2002, pp. 188–208. *"Die Kraft der Bilder. Die Kunst von 'Geisteskranken' und der Bilddiskurs", in: ''Wahn, Welt, Bild, Die Sammlung Prinzhorn''. Beiträge zur Museumseröffnung (Heidelberger Jahrbücher XLVI), Heidelberg 2002, pp. 1–10. *"Paul Cézanne und die Moderne", in: ''Cézanne und die Moderne'', catalogue (Fondation Beyeler, Riehen/ Basel), Ostfildern-Ruit 1999, pp. 10–27. *"Bildbeschreibung. Über die Grenzen von Bild und Sprache", in: G. Boehm und H. Pfotenhauer (eds.), ''Beschreibungskunst - Kunstbeschreibung. Die Ekphrasis von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Munich 1995, pp. 23–40. *"Die Wiederkehr der Bilder", in: ''Was ist ein Bild?'', ed. Gottfried Boehm, Munich 1994, pp. 11–38. *"Die Bilderfrage", in: ''Was ist ein Bild?'', ed. Gottfried Boehm, Munich 1994, pp. 325–343. *"Mnemosyne. Zur Kategorie des erinnernden Sehens", in: G. Boehm, K.H. Stierle and G. Winter (eds.), ''Modernität und Tradition, Festschrift Max Imdahl'', Munich 1985, pp. 37–57. *"Zu einer Hermeneutik des Bildes", in: H.-G. Gadamer and G. Boehm (eds.), ''Seminar: Die Hermeneutik und die Wissenschaften'', Frankfurt 1978, pp. 444–471.

References

External links

* * * http://www.eikones.ch
'Gottfried Boehm and the image'
review of 'Was ist ein Bild' and 'Wie Bilder Sinn Erzeugen' {{DEFAULTSORT:Boehm, Gottfried German art historians 1942 births Living people Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts German male non-fiction writers German expatriates in Austria