Art History

Animating the Antique: Sculptural Encounter in the Age of Aesthetic Theory, a pioneering work of eighteenth and nineteenth century art history, has been published by Penn State University Press. Sarah Betzer, a Member and former Visitor (2014–15, 2016) in the School of Historical Studies, wrote the book during her time at the Institute, culminating in the groundbreaking and widely-acclaimed text that spans a century-and-a-half and offers new account of the distinctively modern allure of the antique.

The new Rubenstein Commons building at the Institute for Advanced Study, designed by Steven Holl Architects, stands in stark contrast to the explicitly functionalist forms of other modern buildings on campus: the Member housing, designed by Marcel Breuer, or even the welcoming but austere (what’s known as “brutalist”) spaces of the dining hall, designed by Robert Geddes.

Yve-Alain Bois, Professor in the School of Historical Studies, has completed volume two of his catalogue raisonné of American painter Ellsworth Kelly. Working with the artist’s estate, Bois has produced a thorough catalogue of the artist’s paintings, sculptures, and reliefs between the years 1954 and 1958, including high-quality reproductions of the art, history of ownership and exhibition, and bibliographic notes. 

Alison Locke Perchuk, past Member in the School of Historical Studies (2018-19), has authored the first interdisciplinary account of the Monastery of St. Elijah, built circa 1122-26 near Rome. It includes archaeological and historical readings of the monastery’s architecture, frescoes, and sculpture, with an eye toward epigraphy, liturgy, theology, memory, and landscape.

Franz Steiner Verlag has published Unveiling Emotions, Vol. 3: Arousal, Display, and Performance of Emotions in the Greek World (2020), edited by Angelos Chaniotis, Professor in the School of Historical Studies.

From the publisher: “The study of...

On April 26, the Institute celebrated the life and work of Irving Lavin with an all-day event that began with a series of scholarly discussions in the morning, followed in the afternoon by personal remembrances.

Watch remembrances by (in order of...

On March 1, 2019, Nicola Suthor, Professor in the History of Art at Yale University and Member (2011) in the School of Historical Studies, gave a public lecture titled "Fluidity and Sedimentation in Rembrandt’s Christ Carrying the Cross" as part of...

On December 12, 2018, Eric Michaud, Directeur d’Études at the Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and former Member in the School of Historical Studies, gave a public lecture on "The Barbarian Invasions: A Genealogy of the History of Art,"...

This essay was first presented in Italian in a dialogue with the physicist Tullio Regge, former Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, as the fifth episode in a television series “Dietro lo Specchio,” broadcast by RAI 2, in Turin, Italy...

Most scholarship on Ottoman art takes the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as their focus, the glorious periods of the building of the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, the well-known domed mosques of the architect Sinan, the Iznik pottery, the floral...