Michael Yonan, Professor of Art History and the Alan Templeton Endowed Chair in the History of European Art, recently published an article in Materia: Journal of Technical Art History entitled “Technical Art History and the Art Historical Thing.”

For Yonan, “the problems involved in describing what art history is, versus what it might become, lie at the heart of this essay, which attempts to sketch out the potential place of the object in our discipline: the thing of art history. This seemingly simple task—defining what it is we study—is actually one of the most inconclusive and destabilizing acts for the scholar…. The art historical object needs to be understood in quite literal terms as a thing, as matter, and that technical art history can play the role of bringing that thingness into greater prominence.”

Read the complete article here.

This is the inaugural issue of Materia, a project that began in an online chat amongst art historians frustrated by a lack of access to research materials during the Covid pandemic.

Materia is designed to be an inclusive platform and welcomes submissions on all forms of cultural heritage. Submissions for the next issue of Materia are now open, with an initial deadline for abstracts of July 15, 2021.