Global Culture after Gombrich

Ernst Gombrich can be considered the most influential art historian of the 20th-century. Until now, however, the global impact of his work has been under-appreciated. Global Culture after Gombrich: Art, Mind, World presents essays by historians of art and culture - themselves students of Gombrich or associated with his scholarly home, the Warburg Institute - from Asia, the USA, and Europe.

Subjects range from picture-making’s place in human evolution to the visual marginalia of the Renaissance, and from nineteenth-century modernism to the implications of the latest neuroscience for cultural history. Other chapters treat fundamental issues, such as the notion of connoisseurship, the fate of the idea of ‘culture’, or the cultural specificity of modernism. They range from theoretical broadsides – notably, a defence of the ‘intelligence’ of art - to intricate reflections – for example on caricature as a style.

In showing how Gombrich initiated enquiries that have spread in numerous – and global – directions, Global Culture after Gombrich: Art, Mind, World makes a vital contribution to contemporary debates around the languages of art history and showcases the range of approaches and methods by which art history is, and has yet to be, written.