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| Art History |
| About me |
| Contact Credits © |
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Born and brought up in Nuremberg, Germany, I studied art history at Erlangen University. After a first research and study period in Rome, I obtained an M.A. degree at Erlangen and went on to teach there as a lecturer in the late 1980s. Subsequently, I moved to Rome and, based at the Bibliotheca Hertziana, conducted research for my Ph.D. as a Gerda-Henkel-Fellow. In 1993, I moved to Britain and started extensive work as a freelance editor and author for Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon (AKL - World Biographical Dictionary of Artists), an ongoing encyclopaedic enterprise to which I am contributing a great number of articles to this day. I am currently associated with the University of Reading as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and involved with the National Recording Project of the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association.
Driven by a broad interest in all kind of art and architecture, and supported by a well founded knowledge of European art of all ages, my in-depth studies tend to concentrate on post-mediaeval periods, from the Renaissance to the present day. Most of this is situated within 17th and 18th century Italian and French sculpture, but I have also written research papers on other subjects and periods. With the central concern to understand the artist as a creative genius, the analysis of individual works of art and their visual impact is crucial to my approach. Wherever possible, this assessment is backed up by comprehensive archival investigations, consideration of historical circumstances, exploration of artistic relationships and practices, the influence of the patron etc. Often, I reconstructed original settings and followed different display situations up to the present. In short, I put works of art in their ever changing historical context.
In particular, I researched two artists working in Rome, the Maltese Melchiorre Cafà (1636-1667) and the Frenchman Pierre Le Gros (1666-1719). Both eminent sculptors of the highest rank, they are today, alas, virtually unknown to the general public and even shamefully ignored by most art historians. Other topics which received my scholarly attention were some early sketches for the tomb of Pope Julius II by Michelangelo, and, more recently, neo-classical reliefs by Antonio Canova and their relation to drawings by John Flaxman. Related to the 2007 Sculpture in Arcadia symposium, which I co-organised at the University of Reading, I conducted research into garden sculpture, particularly at Rousham and Stowe.
Many of my AKL contributions focus on British and US artists of the 18th to 21st century. Beyond biographical data, these articles provide a scholarly sound assessment of the artist, and, according to individual merit, a critical interpretation and thorough discussion of their development and legacy. Photographers figure more and more prominently within this context and mirror my ever growing fascination with the history and the possibilities of this medium.
go to: List of Publications
Visually highly educated, I employ a variety of styles, aesthetic approaches and subject matters. All my photos are infused with artistic intent. I make Art Informed Photography, inspired by art in its entirety from pre-history to the present day. While I do not aim to copy old master painters or modern day photographers, I am often quite aware to produce pictures which place themselves in a certain tradition. But I do follow a broad spectrum of traditions parallel to each other. Frequently, works of art will feature in my photography, again in a number of different guises, from factual/analytical approaches to poetic presentations. Architecture and sculpture allow more room for interpretation and, therefore, feature more prominently than twodimensional art.
My images from numerous travels reflect a particular interest in how cultural legacies influence the present. Construction, dereliction and decay fascinate me. So, too, do oddities and strange juxtapositions, but also pure form and colour. I am no photographic purist, and the results of my shots can be anything from an idyllic landscape to a well ordered still life to dadaistic chaos - and I embrace it all!
Contact: gerhard@gerbis.net