History of Art
The Institute of Mediterranean Studies hosts more Art History research projects.
This humanities discipline has not been fostered to any great extent in this country, at least as regards the arts which developed North, West, East and South-west Europe. There are also great gaps even in the study of Modern Greek art, which must gradually be covered.
The beginning was made at the Institute of Mediterranean Studies in 1990 with the creation of the “El Greco Centre,” the sole existing institutionalised attempt at the academic study of El Greco´s artistic production, under the direction of Nicos Hatjinicolaou, Professor of Art History at the University of Crete. The aim of the Centre is the organisation of exhibitions and academic conferences, the publication of specialised studies, the compilation of an academic library on the artist´s work, as well as a photo archive of all works attributed to the artist.
Since 1996 there has been in operation at the El Greco Centre the academic programme “Western Art in Crete” under the direction of Olga Gratziou, associate Professor of Byzantine Archaeology at the University of Crete.
The art which developed on the island during Venetian rule (1204-1669) has been of minimal interest to researchers during the last half century, despite the fact that it constitutes an important source of evidence regarding the contact of the people of Crete with the Western tradition, mainly in the area of architecture and sculpture. In the area of painting, our information is almost exclusively based on written accounts. Thereafter we may be able to assess the extent to which Cretan artists were familiar with Italian art and to go on to solve the problem of their artistic “diglossia.”
The aim of the programme is to collect photographic material and written accounts, and to organise conferences.
Finally, since 2001 there has been in operation at the IMS the research programme “Art criticism in Greece,” under the direction of Evgenios D.Matthiopoulos, assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Crete, with the purpose of creating a database of articles of leading Greek Art Critics of the 20th century. So far, the research has centred upon the work of Giorgos Petris, Aggelos Prokopiou, Tonis Spiteris and Manolis Chatzidakis.
Also, in this area, the research focuses both on the detailed documentation as well as the evaluation of art-criticism.
The completion of the three programmes, original in concept, will constitute a significant contribution to academic research into the visual arts in our country.
This humanities discipline has not been fostered to any great extent in this country, at least as regards the arts which developed North, West, East and South-west Europe. There are also great gaps even in the study of Modern Greek art, which must gradually be covered.
The beginning was made at the Institute of Mediterranean Studies in 1990 with the creation of the “El Greco Centre,” the sole existing institutionalised attempt at the academic study of El Greco´s artistic production, under the direction of Nicos Hatjinicolaou, Professor of Art History at the University of Crete. The aim of the Centre is the organisation of exhibitions and academic conferences, the publication of specialised studies, the compilation of an academic library on the artist´s work, as well as a photo archive of all works attributed to the artist.
Since 1996 there has been in operation at the El Greco Centre the academic programme “Western Art in Crete” under the direction of Olga Gratziou, associate Professor of Byzantine Archaeology at the University of Crete.
The art which developed on the island during Venetian rule (1204-1669) has been of minimal interest to researchers during the last half century, despite the fact that it constitutes an important source of evidence regarding the contact of the people of Crete with the Western tradition, mainly in the area of architecture and sculpture. In the area of painting, our information is almost exclusively based on written accounts. Thereafter we may be able to assess the extent to which Cretan artists were familiar with Italian art and to go on to solve the problem of their artistic “diglossia.”
The aim of the programme is to collect photographic material and written accounts, and to organise conferences.
Finally, since 2001 there has been in operation at the IMS the research programme “Art criticism in Greece,” under the direction of Evgenios D.Matthiopoulos, assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Crete, with the purpose of creating a database of articles of leading Greek Art Critics of the 20th century. So far, the research has centred upon the work of Giorgos Petris, Aggelos Prokopiou, Tonis Spiteris and Manolis Chatzidakis.
Also, in this area, the research focuses both on the detailed documentation as well as the evaluation of art-criticism.
The completion of the three programmes, original in concept, will constitute a significant contribution to academic research into the visual arts in our country.
