KAREN MICHELS

This biography presents an unconventional thinker and the rediscoverer of Aby Warburg.He was considered one of the most internationally respected and important scholars, a diplomat of science,a specialist on Goya and Velázquez, Rubens and Dürer as well as on the social history of the "court artist", the founder of critical visual studies and, last but not least, an unusually inspiring teacher. For almost 25 years, Martin Warnke was a full professor of art history at the University of Hamburg. During this time, he has sensitised his subject: to the realisation that art as an autonomous force resists all social demands - but also to the intellectual achievements of colleagues expelled by the National Socialists and the innovative approaches of Aby Warburg. With the revitalisation of the Warburg House, he has left an important mark on Hamburg's urban landscape. The centrepiece of the house is Warnke's legendary box of notes on "political iconography", which makes both historical and current strategies of political staging visible in a fascinating way. Warnke's method was doubt, his home the "thinking space of prudence". His delight in "reversing every expectation" (Horst Bredekamp) and his brilliant language make reading his works a timeless adventure.


Karen Michels, born in 1959, is an art historian and has headed the "Agentur für Kunstverstand" in Hamburg, which she founded, since 2002. Previously, she taught at the universities of Jena, Halle and Berlin (HU); during her studies in Hamburg, she was responsible for the refurbishment and supervision of the Warburg House, and did research in Paris and the USA.Numerous publications on architecture, the history of science and art, on Erwin Panofsky or Aby Warburg, among others: Aby Warburg - Im Bannkreis der Ideen (2007).


Wallstein Verlag | Series: Scientists in Hamburg; 8 | Language German | Dimensions 155 x 220 mm | Weight 369 g | Hardcover