Somewhere Between Art History and Phenomenology: At the Still Point of the Painted World

Michael Ann Holly is fascinated by a silent route rarely chosen in the historical and critical history of art: the poetic possibility of phenomenology.

Selecting early modern paintings by Bellini, Patinir, Dürer, Rembrandt, Aertsen, Breughel, and Sassetta, she imagines what a range of classical phenomenologists in the twentieth century might quietly contribute to the understanding of these canonical works of art. This special brand of philosophy dares to think about what is whispered, hidden, concealed or veiled by a prosaic exchange with objects and images. The shift today from epistemology to ontology has resulted in a renewed attention to the animacy of objects.

Through this (re)reading, and often offering a very personal account, she asks - how might we construe art history differently by intimating the magic of painting, the silence and wonder beneath words?

Michael Ann Holly is Starr Director Emerita of the Research and Academic Program at the Clark Art Institute.