Project Details
Projekt
Portraits of the Hand - on the Painterly Facture between Originality and Stylization
Applicant
Professorin Dr. Karin Leonhard
Subject Area
Art History
Term
since 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 420353590
This part of the project concentrates on the specific concepts and treatments of color in portrait painting, both that of English and Dutch painting of the 16th, 17th, and early 18th centuries (Leonhard) and that of the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in German- and French-speaking European countries (Feurle). We are particularly interested in the relationship between the techne of originality and the techne of stylization in art, so our investigations will focus on the artist’s “manner” and therefore on the importance of a visible painterly facture. The two parts of the project are similar in that they are not primarily interested in the specific “way” of an artist as a mark of authenticity but rather treat it as “style” that can be reproduced and has a definite recognition and market value. Accordingly, we will compare narratives of the painting act within their respective traditions and theoretical frameworks.Exploring the ambivalance between standardization and individual originality is the main concern of our research project. Thus the link between its two parts is the tenuous relationship between art that is reproducible, because it can be repeated, and the distinctiveness of the creative process. The two studies overlap therefore in their analysis of the stylization and autonomy of the artist's "manner of painting". The aim is to conduct a critical examination of traditional theories of the portrait genre by investigating sources, techniques, and more general theoretical writings.
DFG Programme
Research Units
