Joseph Koerner
Encyclopedia
Joseph Leo Koerner is an American art historian. The Thomas Professor of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard, he is best known for his work on German art
. After teaching at Harvard from 1989 to 2000, he moved to London, teaching at University College, London and the Courtauld Institute before returning to Harvard in 2007.
, he received his B.A. in 1980. His senior thesis, published in 1983 in German as Die Suche nach dem Labyrinth ("In Quest of the Labyrinth"), treated the myth of Daedalus and Icarus from Ancient Greek art and literature through James Joyce
. After an M.A. in English at Cambridge University (M.A. 1982) and a year studying philosophy at Heidelberg University (1983), Koerner received his Ph.D. in art history at U. C. Berkeley in 1988. In articles written in graduate school, on topics ranging from early Chinese bronzes through Renaissance painting to contemporary art, Koerner focused on problems of meaning and developed his distinctive technique: fine-grained analysis of the effect images have on the beholder. Koerner used this technique most extensively in the opening chapters of his first art history book, Caspar David Friedrich
and the Subject of Landscape (1990, Winner of the 1992 Mitchell Prize)—written while the author was a Junior Fellow at Harvard’s Society of Fellows.
Caspar David Friedrich
and the Subject of Landscape became the third volume of Koerner’s trilogy on German art. The first volume, The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art (1993), studied Albrecht Dürer
’s self-portraits and their distortion by Dürer’s disciple, Hans Baldung Grien. The second volume, The Reformation of the Image (2004), treated Protestant iconoclasm
and its aftermath. While writing the latter book, Koerner collaborated with Bruno Latour
and Peter Weibel
on the 2002 exhibition Iconoclash at the ZKM in Karlsruhe
. He has also curated exhibitions of his father’s work, including a 1997 retrospective at the Austrian National Gallery. In Great Britain, Koerner is known for his work as writer and presenter of the Northern Renaissance (2006) and Vienna: City of Dreams (2008). A popular speaker, Koerner has delivered the Slade Lectures at Cambridge (2003)], the Getty Lectures at USC (2005), the Bross Lectures at University of Chicago (2007), and the Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery (2008). Koerner’s most recent publications concern the theme of enmity
in the art of Hieronymus Bosch.
In 2003 he married Margaret Koster Koerner, also an art historian; a previous marriage had ended in divorce.
In 2009, Koerner was one of three recipients of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Distinguished Achievement Award.
German art
German art has a long and distinguished tradition in the visual arts, from the earliest known work of figurative art to its current output of contemporary art....
. After teaching at Harvard from 1989 to 2000, he moved to London, teaching at University College, London and the Courtauld Institute before returning to Harvard in 2007.
Education and career
Son of the Viennese-born American painter Henry Koerner, Koerner was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Vienna, Austria. Attending Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, he received his B.A. in 1980. His senior thesis, published in 1983 in German as Die Suche nach dem Labyrinth ("In Quest of the Labyrinth"), treated the myth of Daedalus and Icarus from Ancient Greek art and literature through James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
. After an M.A. in English at Cambridge University (M.A. 1982) and a year studying philosophy at Heidelberg University (1983), Koerner received his Ph.D. in art history at U. C. Berkeley in 1988. In articles written in graduate school, on topics ranging from early Chinese bronzes through Renaissance painting to contemporary art, Koerner focused on problems of meaning and developed his distinctive technique: fine-grained analysis of the effect images have on the beholder. Koerner used this technique most extensively in the opening chapters of his first art history book, Caspar David Friedrich
Caspar David Friedrich
Caspar David Friedrich was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscapes which typically feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning...
and the Subject of Landscape (1990, Winner of the 1992 Mitchell Prize)—written while the author was a Junior Fellow at Harvard’s Society of Fellows.
Caspar David Friedrich
Caspar David Friedrich
Caspar David Friedrich was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscapes which typically feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning...
and the Subject of Landscape became the third volume of Koerner’s trilogy on German art. The first volume, The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art (1993), studied Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
’s self-portraits and their distortion by Dürer’s disciple, Hans Baldung Grien. The second volume, The Reformation of the Image (2004), treated Protestant iconoclasm
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
and its aftermath. While writing the latter book, Koerner collaborated with Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour
Bruno Latour is a French sociologist of science and anthropologist and an influential theorist in the field of Science and Technology Studies...
and Peter Weibel
Peter Weibel
Peter Weibel is an artist, curator and theoretician.Raised in Upper Austria he started to study French and cinematography in Paris...
on the 2002 exhibition Iconoclash at the ZKM in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
. He has also curated exhibitions of his father’s work, including a 1997 retrospective at the Austrian National Gallery. In Great Britain, Koerner is known for his work as writer and presenter of the Northern Renaissance (2006) and Vienna: City of Dreams (2008). A popular speaker, Koerner has delivered the Slade Lectures at Cambridge (2003)], the Getty Lectures at USC (2005), the Bross Lectures at University of Chicago (2007), and the Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery (2008). Koerner’s most recent publications concern the theme of enmity
Enmity
Enmity is a Avant-Garde Metal band from Cape Town, South Africa and has been active since 2007. Their debut full-length album, is a concept album exploring the lives of different serial killers from around the world.- History :...
in the art of Hieronymus Bosch.
In 2003 he married Margaret Koster Koerner, also an art historian; a previous marriage had ended in divorce.
In 2009, Koerner was one of three recipients of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's Distinguished Achievement Award.
Works
- Die Suche nach dem Labyrinth—Der Mythos von Daidalos und Ikarus, 1983 ISBN 978-3-518-03499-6
- Caspar David Friedrich and the Subject of Landscape, 1990; 2nd ed. rev. and expanded, 2008 ISBN 978-1-86189-439-7
- The Moment of Self-Portraiture in German Renaissance Art, 1993 ISBN 978-0-226-44999-9
- Unheimliche Heimat—Henry Koerner 1915-1991 ISBN 978-1-86189-439-7
- The Reformation of the Image, 2004 ISBN 978-0-226-44837-4
- Dürer’s Hands, 2006 ISBN 978-0-912114355