Robert Felfe
Kunstgeschichtliches Seminar
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1
20146 Hamburg
Room: 106 (Main Building)
E-Mail: robert.felfe"AT"uni-hamburg.de
Research project
With the working title Eine Kunstgeschichte des Gesteins und der Geosphäre (An Art History of Rocks and the Geosphere), my current book project explores intensive, multilayered relationships between natural science, artistic praxis, art theory and aesthetics, as well as the striking historical changes that occurred in this regard. The period under question stretches from the 16th century until the time around 1800. One thematic focus will be the natural realm of mineralia, to the extent that this was not only a material basis of numerous fine arts, but was also reflected as a prototypical sphere of formative processes in nature. This relationship provided strong impulses both for natural history and for art theory; and as natural scientific research became differentiated in the 17th and 18th centuries, it seems to have changed radically. On the one hand, the ‘elective affinity’ between antiquarian interests and the young geosciences remained a significant and effective relationship. On the other hand, the temporalization of natural history dramatically altered its relationships to art. My research explores the extent to which stones, mountains and landscapes in the art of this period formed a complementary realm to scientific work and thereby embraced new functions. With these emphases, the project is dedicated within the framework of the research group to the structural characteristics form/composition as well as matter/material.
Vita
Bachelor studies in Art History, Cultural Studies, and Romance Studies in Greifswald und Berlin. 2000 PhD with dissertation on the book illustration and use of images of Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672–1733). 2002 to 2010 Fellow of the special research division 447 of the German Research Association Kulturen des Performativen [Cultures of the Performative] (FU Berlin). 2011 Habilitation at the Humboldt University in Berlin on the theme Naturform und bildnerische Prozesse. Elemente einer Wissensgeschichte in der Kunst des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts [Natural form and sculptural processes: Elements of a history of knowledge in the art of the 16th and 17th centuries]. Since 2011 among others fellowships und visiting stays at the college research group Bildakt und Verkörperung (Image-as-act and Embodiment) (2011/12, HU Berlin), at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence (2012/13) as well as adjunct and guest professorships at the University of Hamburg (2011) and the University of the Arts in Berlin (2013). Primary research focuses are the history of Early Modern collecting, the history of printmaking, image theory and the relationship between the arts and sciences in the Early Modern period. Since 2010 on the editorial board of the periodical kritische berichte [critical reports].
Relevant publications
Monograph:
Naturform und bildnerische Prozesse. Elemente einer Wissensgeschichte in der Kunst des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, Berlin/Boston 2015.
Articles:
Bildpraxis und Naturwissenschaften zwischen den Kontinenten, in: Matteo Burioni/Ulrich Pfisterer (Hg.), Kunstgeschichte der vier Erdteile. Horizonte und Schauplätze des Globalen 1300–1650, München 2016 [im Druck].
The Line and its double nature in Early Modern Graphic Arts, in: Marzia Faietti/Gerhard Wolf (Hg.), The Power of Line, München 2015, S. 20-37.
Die Kunstkammer – und warum ihre Zeit erst kommen wird, in: Kunstchronik. Monatsschrift für Kunstwissenschaft, Museumswesen und Denkmalpflege, Jg. 67, Heft 7, Juli 2014, S. 342-351.