This thesis examines the possibility of expanding the toolset for art historical studies of digital art, doing so by studying if older influential art theories can be used in image analysis of digital artworks. More specifically, the study centers around the application of Heinrich Wölfflin’s objective classifying principles as well as Erwin Panofsky’s iconology and iconography on the digital art form pixel art. The aim of the thesis is to research the level of applicability of these well-used image analysis methods on the art style, arguing for the legitimacy of pixel art as an art form as well as contributing to the expanding knowledge about digital art within the Swedish art history field. The results of the study showed that both Wölfflin’s and Panofsky’s image analysis methods are applicable on pixel art artworks, but in different ways with different prerequisites. The objective classifying principles of Wölfflin as well as the pre-iconographical stage of Panofsky’s method center around “surface level” aspects of a work of art such as lines, shading or image composition. These are aspects that in many ways differ greatly in execution between traditional painted art and pixel art, so for these methods to work there needs to be some translation to terms and aspects more applicable to pixel art. Panofsky’s iconography and iconology are on the other hand interested in “deeper” as well as contextual aspects of a work of art such as symbols or references. These aspects of pixel art artworks function in the same way as most other art, traditional or otherwise, and can therefore be directly applied without “translation”.

The purpose of this essay is to examine documentary photographs using art-science methods. The subject of the analyzes is photographer Lauren Greenfield’s project Generation Wealth, which reflects the Western consumer culture of our time. From a social-constructivist perspective, three photographs from this 25-year project are examined. These three photographs follow the theme of money and portray three different occasions that are not related to each other, but which are linked here as three subsequent steps in the theme. With the help of Erwin Panofsky's iconological interpretation model, the photographs are examined to reach a deeper meaning than merely documents about an event or of specific individuals. The iconological interpretation helps to put the photographs in a wider context which makes them symbols of our time. On the basis of the preparatory analyzes, connections are made with art historical works that both visually and contextually becomes keys in the interpretation. The photography of Phoebe 17 years becomes a symbol of the role of young people, especially girls, as objects in a consumer system. Eli Broad Dinner Party symbolizes how money controls the art market while this photograph also play with gender order. The photograph of Florian Homm becomes evidence of the emptiness that comes with the quest to constantly achieve financial success.  The analyzes also discuss the division between documentary photography and art photography with the conclusion that such a division inhibits the photograph's sub-meanings. Such a division becomes a clear sign of social constructions and it’s need to categorize and place them in different fields. The essay discusses photography as a reality portrayal. This is a complex discussion which determines of the context in which the photograph is located. By simultaneously seeking an understanding of photography as a medium and by reading photography as a text, the photographs shows how social constructs are inherited and contribute to standards that keep people trapped in the culture of consumption.

Konst väcker något inom oss, en känsla av förundran, eufori, förvirring eller avsky för att nämna några. Somliga upplever en stark känsla att de måste uttrycka sig antingen positivt eller negativt om konstverket, främst det senare. Kanske rent av hävdar att konstverket inte bör existera i det offentliga rummet. Dessa känslor blir ofta grunden till en stor debatt vilket främst äger rum i media. Därav finns intresset att fundera över hur det kommer sig att vissa konstverk väcker sådana starka känslor och vad dessa konstverk egentligen skildrar. Offentlig konst kan ha varierande tillämpningar i samhället. Konstverket kan existera endast för det estetiska likt ett vackert landskapsmåleri, men det kan också ifrågasätta samhället och anses provocerande. Frågan kan då lyda om provocerande konst endast bör vara utställd på ett konstgalleri. Vilket är en plats du aktivt väljer att besöka och därav får vara beredd på att ställas inför konst som kan väcka känslor. Istället för att tvinga människor möta den provocerande konsten i det offentliga rummet. Av den anledningen behövs konst som för vissa kan uppfattas provocerande i våra gemensamma rum. För att nå ut till de som aktivt inte söker konsten, till de personer som verkligen behöver uppmärksammas. Det är viktigt att debatter tas upp i det offentliga rummet för att kunna observeras av alla. Konstnärerna kanske rent av gör samhället en stor tjänst. Det finns ett intresse hos mig att undersöka konst som väcker debatt och starka känslor hos individer. Undersöka vad konstverken skildrar och hur verken har mottagits av samhället i och med att de orsakat en debatt. Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom en analys av konstverketÖvermålning, både ikonografisk bildanalys och av meningsutbyte kring verket, nå en slutsats angående verkets uppseende, vad målningen väcker för känslor och tankar.

<p>Föreliggande uppsats studerar Friedensreich Hundertwassers (1928-2000) organiska/vegetativaarkitektur, begränsad till utvalda signifikativa arkitekturelement på fyra olika bildnivåer, frånöversiktsbild till en avgränsad del av ett mindre utrymme. Den byggnad som avses är kvarteretDie Grüne Zitadelle i Magdeburg, Tyskland. Uppsatsen är tudelad i den meningen att den utgårifrån nämnd arkitektur och analyseras/syntetiseras enligt Erwin Panofskys ikonologiska metod. Urdenna första analys framvaskas relevanta dikotomier, en metod som i sin ursprungliga form ärHeinrich Wölfflins komparativa. Dock jämförs inte Hundertwassers verk genom epokskiljandestilfaktorer, utan genom jämförande med en konstnär som enligt tidigare forskning anses varanärliggande Hundertwasser. Denne arkitekt är Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), verket för analysen ärCasa Milá i Barcelona i Spanien. Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom dikotomierna experimentelltjämföra arkitekterna och deras verk, och forskningsinriktningen ligger i att urröna omdikotomierna kan blottlägga insikter om skillnader och/eller likheter som annars kunde varit svåraatt identifiera. Resultatet visar att arkitekterna tolkat filosofin på delvis lika och delvis olika sätt.Sammanfattande har Hundertwasser ett betydligt mer individualiserat formspråk avseende designifikativa arkitekturelementen. Oavsett om den dubbla metoden tillför nya kunskaper eller inte,torde dikotomierna kunna fungera som stöd för arkitekturanalyser och som hjälp vidkonstreflektion.</p>

Föreliggande uppsats studerar Friedensreich Hundertwassers (1928-2000) organiska/vegetativaarkitektur, begränsad till utvalda signifikativa arkitekturelement på fyra olika bildnivåer, frånöversiktsbild till en avgränsad del av ett mindre utrymme. Den byggnad som avses är kvarteretDie Grüne Zitadelle i Magdeburg, Tyskland. Uppsatsen är tudelad i den meningen att den utgårifrån nämnd arkitektur och analyseras/syntetiseras enligt Erwin Panofskys ikonologiska metod. Urdenna första analys framvaskas relevanta dikotomier, en metod som i sin ursprungliga form ärHeinrich Wölfflins komparativa. Dock jämförs inte Hundertwassers verk genom epokskiljandestilfaktorer, utan genom jämförande med en konstnär som enligt tidigare forskning anses varanärliggande Hundertwasser. Denne arkitekt är Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926), verket för analysen ärCasa Milá i Barcelona i Spanien. Syftet med uppsatsen är att genom dikotomierna experimentelltjämföra arkitekterna och deras verk, och forskningsinriktningen ligger i att urröna omdikotomierna kan blottlägga insikter om skillnader och/eller likheter som annars kunde varit svåraatt identifiera. Resultatet visar att arkitekterna tolkat filosofin på delvis lika och delvis olika sätt.Sammanfattande har Hundertwasser ett betydligt mer individualiserat formspråk avseende designifikativa arkitekturelementen. Oavsett om den dubbla metoden tillför nya kunskaper eller inte,torde dikotomierna kunna fungera som stöd för arkitekturanalyser och som hjälp vidkonstreflektion.

The purpose of this essay is to investigate The Woman with the Puppets by Isobel Gloag from a feminist perspective, to find how it challenge the male gaze and patriarchy. I also seek to understand how other female artists past and present compare to Gloag’s painting. The method is Panofsky’s iconology with modifications through Aavitsland’s thoughts of the grammatical structure that the composition holds. To reach social bearings upon the ability to generate this type of historical genre painting Bourdieu’s toolbox of capital, habitus and strategies has been applied. The painting is a feminist expression of the feminist discussions regarding marriage, equality and law that took place at the time of the paintings creation. Through the use of established norm with an ambiguity, female nude and male marionette puppets, the male gaze and patriarchy is challenged. Gloag is the only female artist of her time that has generated a history genre painting in a feminist spirit that challenges multitude of issues in one composition.

Au XXe siècle, le problème de l’illusionnisme perspectif a posé d’importantes difficultés théoriques aux historien d’arts. En effet, la compréhension de la perspective induit une conception de l’histoire de l’art. Si la perspective est conforme à la perception, alors l’art peut être objectif et son histoire participe de l’histoire des sciences. En revanche, si la perspective n’est pas conforme à la perception, alors l’art, dans son histoire, ne peut être compris comme une quête de l’objectivité. Dans ce cas, deux autres questions se posent : comment penser le rapport entre art et rationalité, et comment définir la visée de l’art? Le premier problème appelle une réflexion sur le concept de schématisme, le second une réflexion sur le rapport entre l’art et les conceptions du monde. La Perspective comme forme symbolique, d’Erwin Panofsky, est le premier texte à avoir proposé une réponse générale à ces questions. Le concept de forme symbolique, emprunté à Ernst Cassirer, lui a permis de considérer la perspective comme une forme culturelle, et de mettre au second plan la question de l’objectivité. Cette position est à l’origine d’intenses polémiques, que les débats historiographiques ne sont pas parvenus à résoudre. En confrontant les travaux de Panofsky à ceux de Philippe Descola et de Ernst Cassirer, cette thèse explicite d’abord les attendus théoriques inhérents au rapport entre forme symbolique, schématisme et conceptions du monde. Elle propose ensuite une analyse des controverses liées à la perspective et met en valeur la pensée de Robert Klein. Cette pensée travaille la phénoménologie et amène à une conception de l’histoire différente de celle proposée par Panofsky. / During the 20th century, perspective illusionism caused significant theoretical issues to art historians. That is because an understanding of perspective leads to a conception of art history. If perspective is true to visual perception, then art can be objective and its history is related to the history of sciences. On the other hand, if perspective is not true to visual perception, then art, in its own historical development, cannot be understood as a quest for objectivity. In this case, two further issues arise: how to conceive the relationship between art and rationality, and how to define the purpose of art? The first problem requires a reflection on the concept of schematism, the second a reflection on the relationship between art and different worldviews. Erwin Panofsky’s essay, Perspective as a Symbolic Form, was the first text to provide a comprehensive answer to these questions. The concept of symbolic form, borrowed from Ernst Cassirer philosophy, allowed him to consider perspective mainly as a cultural form, thus overlooking the issue of objectivity. This position has led to numerous controversies, which have not been overcome by historiographical discussions. By comparing Panofsky’s work with those of Philippe Descola and Ernst Cassirer, this thesis first clarifies the theoretical prerequisites for the relationship between symbolic form, schematism and worldviews. It then provides an analysis of several historiographical controversies and underscores the thinking of Robert Klein. His approach tackles phenomenology and leads to a different conception of history than the one proposed by Panofsky to overcome the issues raised by perspective.

The ideas within this thesis are meant to clarify my explorations, research and painting practice during my studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. I expand on my general statements about being fascinated by advancing technologies and concerned about the after effects of these advancements. The writing explores my curiosity about the internal, skeletal structure of things and how they operate. I explain how the paintings are idiosyncratic hybrids that evoke animation, imaginary scientific propositions, blueprints, maps, and advancing technologies. The work combines these interests with my observations of day-to-day experiences. Isolated events provide found compositions which I then manipulate: a seemingly mundane bike ride gets mapped into a well–ordered schematic of social interaction.

Il s’agit dans cette thèse de penser les conditions de possibilité d’une philosophie de l’art à partir d’un examen précis et rigoureux de la production artistique picturale de la Renaissance italienne. Cherchant d’abord à définir une méthode, nous étudions en détail les présupposés de l’iconologie afin d’établir ce qui nous en semble être les limites. Puis, forts de cette analyse, nous en déduisons la nécessité d’une philosophie de l’art qui, loin de se contenter d’une analyse érudite de l’icône, cherche à extraire la signification de l’œuvre à partir de sa forme sensible. Si les pensées de Platon, Hume et Kant nous semblent échouer à proposer pareille démarche, les leçons de Hegel consacrées à l’Esthétique nous offrent un schéma analytique opérant, grâce auquel l’espace, le dessin et le coloris fournissent le lieu même à partir duquel peut surgir le sens. C’est ainsi que les œuvres de Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Léonard de Vinci et Michel-Ange constituent le matériau artistique grâce auquel nous mettons à l’épreuve la pertinence du triptyque espace-dessin-coloris, tel qu’il fut élaboré par Hegel. En outre, ce sont les pensées philosophiques consacrées au lieu, à la lumière ou encore à la couleur que nous convoquons – tant chez Thomas d’Aquin que chez Marsile Ficin, chez Albert le Grand que chez Plotin, chez Aristote que chez Nicolas de Cues – afin de proposer un sens philosophique des œuvres picturales, que ne nous semblent paradoxalement pas pouvoir délivrer les théories de l’art que proposent ces derniers. Chercher le sens philosophique des œuvres à même leur sensibilité et non dans une théorie de l’image, tel est donc le projet essentiel de cette thèse. / This thesis discusses the conditions of possibility for a philosophy of art based on a precise and rigorous analysis of the pictorial artistic production of the Italian Renaissance. After attempting at defining a method, the presuppositions of iconology are studied in detail with a view to establishing what appear to be their limits. On the basis of this analysis, the author deduces the need for a philosophy of art which, rather than just carrying out an erudite analysis of the icon, endeavours to extract the meaning of a work of art on the basis of its sensitive shape. While Plato, Hume and Kant’s thoughts seem to fail in proposing such an approach, Hegel’s teachings dedicated to aesthetics offer an operational analytical framework, thanks to which space, drawing and colour provide the very place out of which sense can come into being.Hence the works of Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo constitute the artistic material out of which the relevance of the space-drawing-colour triptych, as developed by Hegel, is put to the test. Furthermore, reference is made to the philosophical thoughts on space, light and colour – as expressed by authors like Thomas Aquinas, Marsilio Ficino, Albert the Great, Plotinus, Aristotle and Nicholas of Kues – with a view to proposing a philosophical sense of pictorial works of art, which paradoxically the theories of art provided by these authors do not seem able to deliver. It is the fundamental aim of this thesis to look for the philosophical sense of works of art through their own sensitiveness and not through a theory of the image.

Hans Holbein's Dance of Death has fascinated researchers for centuries, and in the shape of the book Les Simulachres et historiées de la mort, published in 1538, it was going to change the perception of the dance of death theme for a long time ahead. What most researchers point out about Holbein's pictures is its underlying sense of satire or irony – but is typically glossed over as a matter of fact. The aim of this study is to explore what makes satire and humor apparent in Holbein's dance of death. The study mainly focuses on four separate images from Holbein's series, that represent different social standings and professions to compare and study the difference in satire depending on this factor. By using Panofsky's iconographic method, Kemp's reception theory and Bachtin's theory about the carnivalesque and the grotesque, the study shows that Holbein was inspired by the earlier traditions of the Dance of Death theme but made certain new changes that were related to renaissance culture and ideas. These factors in combination with the ideas of the grotesque turned the frightful Death into something more than just a sudden harbinger of death – it was also part of carnival culture and laughter.