At the Limit of Verbal Expression

AbstractThis essay by the distinguished German art historian Max Imdahl (1925-88) outlines Imdahl’s career and art historical practice, which provide fascinating insights into the development of the discipline in postwar Germany. Imdahl was founding member of the Institute of Art History at the new Ruhr-University in Germany’s most industrialized region; he also pioneered seminars on contemporary art for trade union members of the local chemical industry, and his advocacy of contemporary art led to his advisory role for “documenta 6.” While revealing the controversial status of contemporary art in mid-twentieth-century Germany, he considers it as a possible hermeneutic interpretive condition of traditional art. Imdahl is further concerned with the process involved in interpreting works of art, including the relationship between image and verbal expression. He introduces a new term—Ikonik—to define the comprehension of an image that is derived exclusively from the process of viewing. His analysis of variou...