Ernst Gombrich: Iconology and the “linguistics of the image
This paper is a product of work in progress on understanding Ernst Gombrich’s Viennese roots and the paradox that despite being the world’s most famous art historian he had comparatively little impact on the practice of the discipline. It is argued that this was, in part, because he was a commentato...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Art History, University of Birmingham
2011-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Art Historiography |
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| Online Access: | http://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/woodfield.pdf |
| _version_ | 1828356614102450176 |
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| author | Richard Woodfield |
| author_facet | Richard Woodfield |
| author_sort | Richard Woodfield |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper is a product of work in progress on understanding Ernst Gombrich’s Viennese roots and the paradox that despite being the world’s most famous art historian he had comparatively little impact on the practice of the discipline. It is argued that this was, in part, because he was a commentator on the practice of art history rather than the exponent of a method. It was also because his preferred medium was the invited lecture rather than the peer-reviewed article or book. His interest in the ‘linguistics of the image’ was inspired by Julius von Schlosser and his contribution to that topic has been little understood in the Anglophone community because he worked from within a Viennese sematological framework, originating with Heinrich Gomperz’s ‘Ueber einige psychologische Voraussetzungen der naturalistischen Kunst’ and culminating in Bühler’s Sprachtheorie, that did not match the semiotic theories of Saussure and Peirce. However, he was not systematic and he is open to the criticism that he misunderstood or misrepresented Bühler’s Organonmodell der Sprache; in this he was in company with Karl Popper. The paper concludes by considering his essays in Symbolic Images as a flawed application of Bühler’s model. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:01:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-56391f7d200742a8b8ef201367e0a24a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2042-4752 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T03:01:26Z |
| publishDate | 2011-12-01 |
| publisher | Department of Art History, University of Birmingham |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Art Historiography |
| spelling | doaj.art-56391f7d200742a8b8ef201367e0a24a2022-12-22T02:15:53ZengDepartment of Art History, University of BirminghamJournal of Art Historiography2042-47522011-12-0155RAW/1Ernst Gombrich: Iconology and the “linguistics of the imageRichard WoodfieldThis paper is a product of work in progress on understanding Ernst Gombrich’s Viennese roots and the paradox that despite being the world’s most famous art historian he had comparatively little impact on the practice of the discipline. It is argued that this was, in part, because he was a commentator on the practice of art history rather than the exponent of a method. It was also because his preferred medium was the invited lecture rather than the peer-reviewed article or book. His interest in the ‘linguistics of the image’ was inspired by Julius von Schlosser and his contribution to that topic has been little understood in the Anglophone community because he worked from within a Viennese sematological framework, originating with Heinrich Gomperz’s ‘Ueber einige psychologische Voraussetzungen der naturalistischen Kunst’ and culminating in Bühler’s Sprachtheorie, that did not match the semiotic theories of Saussure and Peirce. However, he was not systematic and he is open to the criticism that he misunderstood or misrepresented Bühler’s Organonmodell der Sprache; in this he was in company with Karl Popper. The paper concludes by considering his essays in Symbolic Images as a flawed application of Bühler’s model.http://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/woodfield.pdflinguistics of the imagesematologysemioticsBrysonGoodmanBühlerGomperzSchlosserKris |
| spellingShingle | Richard Woodfield Ernst Gombrich: Iconology and the “linguistics of the image Journal of Art Historiography linguistics of the image sematology semiotics Bryson Goodman Bühler Gomperz Schlosser Kris |
| title | Ernst Gombrich: Iconology and the “linguistics of the image |
| title_full | Ernst Gombrich: Iconology and the “linguistics of the image |
| title_fullStr | Ernst Gombrich: Iconology and the “linguistics of the image |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ernst Gombrich: Iconology and the “linguistics of the image |
| title_short | Ernst Gombrich: Iconology and the “linguistics of the image |
| title_sort | ernst gombrich iconology and the linguistics of the image |
| topic | linguistics of the image sematology semiotics Bryson Goodman Bühler Gomperz Schlosser Kris |
| url | http://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/woodfield.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT richardwoodfield ernstgombrichiconologyandthelinguisticsoftheimage |