Research at the Department of Art History

In the completed and ongoing research projects and PhD theses, an empirical focus on modern and contemporary phenomena prevails, while cutting-edge theoretical discussions suggest new directions for the scholarship, also in terms of a wider historical perspective.

At the University of Turku the discipline is anchored in an arts studies environment; the neighbouring fields also include cultural history and gender studies.

Examples of research themes:

• theories and strands of modernism, including alternative and middle brow modernisms
• history and theory of naturalism, symbolism, expressionism, and surrealism
• phenomenology of perception and new materialist theoretizations in relation to contemporary art
• posthumanism and cultural animal studies
• gender and queer theoretical approaches to modern and contemporary art
• photography research (e.g., materialities of contemporary photography, theatre photography and the history of colour photography in Finland)
• portraiture and self-portraiture as theoretical and empirical issues
• war memorials, post-war public painting and other public art in Finland