„Why do we need art history?” In the 21st century – in the context of the 20th century history of the discipline

Abstract

The article presents various approaches to the methodology of modern and contemporary art history. It provides signposts and a set of possible orientations toward the field of art history, by presenting some of the theoretical perspectives most widely used in the discipline today (e.g. historiography, iconography, ‘iconic turn’or the most recent concept – ‘Relational Aesthetics’). The aim of this article is to present art as a visual representation of a range of concepts and emotions as well as to examine the progress of different ways in which people study, interpret and appreciate art in its richness and multitude of forms.