Dr Hans Hones

Dr Hans Hones
Dr Hans Hones
Dr Hans Hones

Senior Lecturer

Accepting PhDs

About

Biography

Hans C. Hones is Senior Lecturer in Art History at the University of Aberdeen, as well as Undergraduate Programme Coordinator for the MA in Art History. Prior to joining UoA in 2020, he worked as a lecturer at the Courtauld Institute and has held teaching and research positions at The Warburg Institute and UCL, among other. He gained his PhD from LMU Munich in 2013.

Hans is a leading researcher in the field of art historiography and art theory. He has published monographs on seminal figures such as Heinrich Wölfflin and Aby Warburg, on the search for the 'origins of art' in eighteenth-century historiography, and on (self-) translation and migration in art history.

Much of his work addresses the history of humanities more broadly. He has a keen interest in the formation of art history as an academic discipline, and its intersections with neighbouring areas of study, such as Classics and antiquarianism, prehistoric archaeology, and theology.

To date, Hans has published three single-authored monographs, seven edited collections, special issues, and exhibition catalogues, and c. 40 essays. His work has been supported by the Herzog-August-Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel and the Paul Mellon Centre London.

Prizes and Awards

Paul Mellon Centre Research Collections Fellowship 2021/22

Research

Research Areas

Accepting PhDs

I am currently accepting PhDs in Art History.


Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.

Email Me

Art History

Accepting PhDs

Current Research

Hans is a leading expert in the history of art historiography. He has published extensively on art historiography since the eighteenth century, and has written and edited books on: Heinrich Wölfflin (Wölfflins Bild-Körper, 2011), eighteenth-century antiquarianism (Kunst am Ursprung, 2014), and art history and migration (Migrating Histories of Art, co-ed. 2019), among others. His third monograph Tangled Paths. A Life of Aby Warburg has been published by Reaktion Books in spring 2024. Much of his work focuses on the intersections of art history with neighbouring fields of knowledge: Classics, Archaeology, Theology among them. His work is driven by a love for archives, and for unearthing ideas and debates that help to rethink the canonical narrative of art history and its place in modern academia.

 

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Art History in Britain

Much of Hans’ recent work has been focused on the history of art history in Britain. He aims to reassess the history of art history in Britain by focusing on the institutional debates on the place of the discipline in the country’s education system. The project argues that the marginal status of art history in British academia is best understood not as an intellectual problem, but as the result of institutional power struggles: the remit of art history was contested by more established professions such as academic artists, historians, or classicists who considered the historical study of artworks (e.g. medieval manuscripts and Greek sculpture) as their domain. Hans is interested in how art historians professionalised themselves and eventually carved out a niche for their subject, amidst a changing landscape of higher education.

For some preliminary results, see the articles in British Art Studies 2022; Kunstchronik 2022; Zeitschrift fuer Kunstgeschichte 2021, and in the edited volume Migrating Histories of Art. Self-Translations of a Disciplin, 2019.

 

Art and Environment in the nineteenth-century

He also has a keen interest on the role of environmental discourses for Neoclassical and Romantic art and art theory. He is particularly interested in the reception of Johann Joachim Winckelmann’s climate theory in 18th and 19th-century art and archaeology, and its consequences for neoclassical geographies of art, culture, and the “Greek ideal” (see articles on Joseph Gandy, Architectural History 2021; on Humber de Superville, kritische berichte 2021; and in the volume Winckelmann und die Schweiz, 2018).

Teaching
Publications

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  • Tangled Paths: A Life of Aby Warburg

    Hönes, H.
    Reaktion Books. 288 pages
    Books and Reports: Books
  • The Rise and Fall of the ‘clerks’”: British Art History, 1950-1970.

    Hönes, H.
    British Art Studies, no. 24
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • British Art and British Art History

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 75, no. 7, pp. 343-347
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Out of the Shadows? Discovering Mary Warburg: Review of: Hedinger, Bärbel; Diers, Michael (Eds.): Mary Warburg. Porträt einer Künstlerin. Leben, Werk, München: Hirmer Verlag 2020 ISBN-13: 978-3-7774-3614-2, 535 S., EUR 68.00

    Hönes, H.
    Journal of Art Historiography, vol. 25, 25/HCH1
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Painting Art History: Review of Lea Kuhn, Gemalte Kunstgeschichte, 2020

    Hönes, H.
    Journal of Art Historiography, vol. 25
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
  • Gandy's Arkaiology: The Deluge and Romantic Climatologies of Architecture

    Hönes, H.
    Architectural History, vol. 64, pp. 321-346
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Vor der Flut: Humbert de Superville und die Abgründe der Vorzeit

    Hönes, H.
    kritische berichte, no. 2, pp. 24-34
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Untranslatable: Gottfried Kinkel, ‘Kulturgeschichte’ and British Art Historiography

    Hönes, H.
    Zeitschrift fuer Kunstgeschichte, vol. 84, no. 2, pp. 248-268
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Winckelmann im Sammlungsraum: Armut macht Geschichte

    Hönes, H.
    Schöne Wissenschaften: Sammeln, Ordnen und Präsentieren im Josephinischen Wien. Fischer, N., Mader-Kratky, A. (eds.). 1 edition. Austrian Academy of Science, pp. 127-142, 16 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • Hedinger, Bärbel; Diers, Michael: Mary Warburg. Porträt einer Künstlerin

    Hönes, H.
    ArtHist.net, no. Apr 18 2021
    Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
  • Modern Lives – Modern Legends: Artist Anecdotes since the 18th century

    Hönes, H., Frasca-Rath, A. (ed.)
    Journal of Art Historiography, vol. 23
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • A Match Not Made in Heaven: Artist Anecdotes and the ‘Dialogues of the Dead’

    Hönes, H.
    Journal of Art Historiography, vol. 23, 23/HCH1
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Klassizismus, Weltkunst und die Verführungen des Bildvergleiches

    Hönes, H.
    Sehen als Vergleichen: Praktiken des Vergleichens von Bildern, Kunstwerken und Artefakten. Grave, J., Hochkirchen, B., Heyder, J. C. (eds.). Bielefeld University Press, pp. 51-80, 30 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • Norm und System. Winckelmann und die Royal Academy

    Hönes, H.
    Marburger Jahrbuch fur Kunstwissenschaft, vol. 46
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Vorsicht Tiefsinn!: Review of Kurt Forster, Aby Warburgs Kulturwissenschaft, 2018

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 2-6
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • ’A very specialised subject’: Art History in Britain

    Hönes, H.
    Insiders/Outsiders.: Refugees from Nazi Europe and their Contribution to British Visual Culture. Bohm-Duchen, M. (ed.). Lund Humphries
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Embodied Formalism: Knowledge beyond Thought: Review of Zeynep Celik Alexander, Kinaesthetic Knowing, 2017

    Hönes, H.
    Art History, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 402-405
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Migrating Histories of Art: Self-translations of a discipline

    Costa, M. T. (ed.), Hones, H. (ed.)
    Books and Reports: Anthologies
  • Seductive Foreignness. Gottfried Kinkel at University College London

    Hönes, H.
    Migrating Histories of Art. Self-Translations of a Discipline. Hönes, H., Costa, M. T. (eds.). de Gruyter, pp. 149-164, 218-22
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Spielraum der Rationalität.: Warburg und die Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung

    Hönes, H.
    Aby Warburg und die Natur. Fehrenbach, F., Zumbusch, C. (eds.). de Gruyter, pp. 33-48
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Warburg’s Positivism: Confessions of a Truffle Pig

    Hones, H. C.
    Oxford Art Journal, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 361-379
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Kunst in der Dachrinne: Friedrich Oliviers introspektives Gemälde Noahs Einzug in die Arche

    Hönes, H.
    Bilderfahrzeuge: Aby Warburgs Vermaechtnis und die Zukunft der Ikonologie. Beyer, A. (ed.). Wagenbach, pp. 202-211
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Against "vulgar and shallow interdisciplinarity": Review of Matthew Rampley, The Seductions of Darwin, 2018

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 130-134
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Die Sümpfe der Schweiz. Klimatheorie und Ursprungssuchen

    Hönes, H.
    Winckelmann und die Schweiz: Akten der internationalen Tagung Zürich, 18.-19. Mai 2017. Beyer, A., Kunze, M., Krahenbuhl, R. (eds.). Michael Imhof Verlag, pp. 99-107
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Gegen Einfluss: Geniale Sturzfluten

    Hönes, H.
    Einfluss, Strömung Quelle. Aquatische Metaphern in der Kunstgeschichte. Pfisterer, U., Tauber, C. (eds.). transcript Verlag, pp. 75-95
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Metadata: How we relate to Images

    Hönes, H., von Mueller, J., Marchand, E., Woldt, I., McSweeney, A.
    , London. 129 pages
    Books and Reports: Books
  • Norbert Miller: Marblemania

    Hönes, H.
    sehepunkte, vol. 18, no. 9
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Six Years Later: Writing Prehistory

    Hönes, H.
    De-Materializations in Art and Art-Historical Discourse in the 20th Century: Proceedings of a conference held in Tomaszowice on 14–16 May 2017. Balus, W., Kuninska, M. (eds.), pp. 35-53
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Allegory, Ornament, and Prehistory's "secret influence"

    Hönes, H.
    Idols and Museum Pieces: The Nature of Sculpture, its Historiography and Exhibition History, 1640-1880. van Eck, C. (ed.). Walter de Gruyter & Co., pp. 115-126, 238-241
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • Bloß zufällig: Kritik und Selbstkritik des Bildvergleichs bei Wölfflin

    Hönes, H.
    Der vergleichende Blick: Formanalysen in Natur- und Kulturwissenschaften. Bruhns, M., Scholz, G. (eds.). Dietrich Reimer Verlag, pp. 55-68
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • Einweg oder Mehrweg? Bilder im Gebrauch und die Freuden des Wegwerfens: Review of Hinterwaldner/Wolff/Wagner, Einwegbilder, 2016

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 70, no. 11, pp. 576-581
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Paper Monuments for Antiquaries (Caylus, Winckelmann, D'Hancarville): Metahistorical Interventions

    Hönes, H.
    Wiener Jahrbuch Kunstgeschichte, vol. 63/64, pp. 257-268
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Prehistoric Hunting Magic: Fateful years of a phypothesis

    Hönes, H.
    Hunting without Weapons: On the pursuit of Images. Sass, M. (ed.). de Gruyter, pp. 185-201
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)
  • Re-connecting with Culture: A reply to Whitney Davis

    Hönes, H.
    Estetika: The Central European Journal of Aesthetics, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 258-266
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Speculative Science: Aby Warburg and Probability Theory

    Hönes, H.
    Philosophy of Photography, vol. 8, no. 1-2, pp. 131-139
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Anti-formalist responses: Review of Caroline van Eck, Arg, Agency and Living Presence, 2015

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 69, no. 8, pp. 436-440
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Gar nicht so esoterisch: hieroglyphen im 18. Jahrhundert: Review of Annette Graczyk, Die Hieroglyphe im 18. Jahrhundert, 2015

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 127-130
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Posing Problems: George Kubler's 'Prime Objects'

    Hönes, H.
    Journal of Visual Art Practice, vol. 15, no. 2-3 Headstone to Hard Drive, pp. 261-269
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Enlivening and - dividing: An Aporia of Illumination

    Hönes, H.
    Contemporaneity, vol. 4, pp. 1-23
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Aby Warburg: Fragmente zur Ausdruckskunde

    Pfisterer, U. (ed.), Hones, H. (ed.)
    Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin / New York. 372 pages
    Books and Reports: Scholarly Editions
  • Die Geburt der Kunstgeschichte in England: Gottfried Kinkels Vorlesungen am University College London, 1853

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 68, no. 9-10, pp. 487-491
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Nachwort: Der kleine Antennerich: Kunstpsychologie als Selbsterkundung als Kunstpsychologie

    Hönes, H., Pfisterer, U.
    Aby Warburg, Fragmente zur Ausdrucksunde. Pfisterer, U., Hönes, H. C. (eds.). de Gruyter, pp. 321-351
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Review: Owning the Past: Why the English Collected Antique Sculpture, 1640-1840

    Hönes, H.
    Bryn Mawr Classical Review, vol. 10, no. 9
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Zum Geschichtsbewusstsein des Hoehlenmenschen: Review of Max Raphael, Die Hand an der Wand, 2013

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 68, no. 11, pp. 544-548
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Kunst am Ursprung: Das Nachleben der Bilder und die Souveränität des Antiquars

    Hones, H.
    transcript Verlag. 327 pages
    Books and Reports: Books
  • Anfang und Metapher.: George Kubler und das Problem kuenstlerischer Innovation

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstgeschichte. Open peer-reviewed journal
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Einleitung

    Hönes, H.
    Georg Wolfgang Knorr, Historische Künstler-Belustigung, Nürnberg 1738. Hoenes, H. C. (ed.). UB Heidelberg, pp. 2-15
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Neue ikonographische Methoden aus einer Welt ohne Schrift: Review of Vernon J. Knight, Iconographic Method in New World Prehistory, 2013

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 67, no. 6, pp. 394-399
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Was war Renaissance?: Bilder einer Erzählform von Vasari bis Panofsky

    Hones, H. (ed.), Kuhn, L. (ed.), Petcu, E. (ed.), Thürigen, S. (ed.)
    Books and Reports: Anthologies
  • Anna Maria Pfafflin: Gottlob Heinrich Rapp

    Hönes, H.
    sehepunkte, vol. 13, no. 9
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Ein englischer Sonderweg?: Neue Forschungsperspektiven auf Dilettanten und Antiquare

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 66, no. 7, pp. 356-361
    Contributions to Journals: Review articles
  • Leben der ausgezeichnetsten Bilder, Bücher und Kunsthistoriker, von Vasari bis Panofskz, oder: Was war Renaissance?

    Hönes, H., Thürigen, S., Kuhn, L., Petcu, E.
    Was war Renaissance?: Bilder einer Erzählform von Vasari bis Panofsky. Dietmar Klinger Verlag, pp. 1-23
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Neues aus Aby Warburgs naeherem Umfeld: Ein Forschungsbericht

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 66, no. 12, pp. 562-569
    Contributions to Journals: Review articles
  • Reproduktionen des Lichtbilds: Max Hauttmanns "zeichnerische Operationen"

    Hönes, H.
    Rundbrief Fotografie, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 17-24
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Review: Peter Harbison: William Burton Conyngham and his Irish Circle of Antiquarian Artists

    Hönes, H.
    sehepunkte, vol. 13, no. 9
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • What is Visual Culture Anyway?: Review of: Whitney Davis, A General Theory of Visual Culture, Princeton 2011 and Ibid., Queer Beauty, New York 2010

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 65, no. 9-10, pp. 489-493
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Georges Batailles Gaia Scienza: Review of Georges Didi-Huberman, Formlose Ahnlichkeit, 2010

    Hönes, H.
    Kunstchronik, vol. 63, no. 3, pp. 158-161
    Contributions to Journals: Literature Reviews
  • Wölfflins Bild-Körper: Ideal und Scheitern kunsthistorischer Anschauung

    Hones, H.
    Diaphanes, Zurich/Berlin
    Books and Reports: Books

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