Art History in the World of Digital Humanities

Aspects of a Difficult Relationship

Abstract

This text can be considered among a number of recent statements regarding digital art history. It serves as a contribution to an ongoing discussion, certainly not as an exhaustive analysis of the field or its history. The basic thesis here is that the popular separation (Pias, Kohle, Drucker) between “digitized” and “digital” art history is disadvantageous to the discipline, particularly for the positioning of art history within digital humanities. “Digital art history” is not possible without extensive activity in both digitization and digital documentation. Only then sufficient data will be available for creating new insights and knowledge in art history within a digital space.