The Matrix of Photomechanical Reproductions: Histories of Remote Access to Art

Provider and number: Lumina quaeruntur
Duration: 2023–2027
Recipient: Institute of Art History, CAS
Principal investigator: Fedora Parkmann
Co-investigators: Camilla Balbi, Hana Buddeus, Katarína Mašterová, Viktorie Vítů
External collaborators: Ada Ackerman, Marta Binazzi, Mariana Kubištová, Lukáš Pilka, Adéla Svobodová, Elena Šikudová

With the spread of new printing technology in the first half of the twentieth century, photomechanical reproductions of art became omnipresent, allowing unprecedented access to works of art. The project focuses on art and art historical journals published in Czechoslovakia, Germany, France, and Russia from 1900 to 1950. The reproductions featured in these journals will be examined quantitatively, through the methods of digital art history, and qualitatively, based on archival sources (publishers, photo agencies, photographers, printers…). What new narratives of art emerge if we look into this period through the lens of reproductions printed in period journals? What was their impact on the distribution and popularization of art? Through this historical inquiry, the project will open new insights into the use of remote access to art in the digital age. Conducted at the Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences and its Photography Research Centre – CVF, in collaboration with an international team of art historians, digital technology experts, and artists, the project fosters a new research direction at the crossroads of the material culture of photography, art history, and digital humanities.

Website of the project: https://photomatrix.cz/