Enfilade

The Association of Art Historians Oral Histories Project represents a ground-breaking attempt to record the history of art history. Via a series of interviews with luminary scholars, the AAH has begun to answer questions such as: What prompted the formation of the Association of Art Historians? Why was such an Association needed? How did it take shape? And what of its impact on the discipline, nationally and internationally, both then and now? For HECAA members, interviews with leading 18th-century and early modern scholars such as Luke Hermann, Marcia Pointon, Alison Yarrington and Evelyn Welch will likely be of interest. -FG

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From the Association of Art Historians:

Over the past two years, the AAH conducted a series of audio interviews conducted with art historians involved with AAH during its founding era. Excerpts from the recordings are now available to listen to on our website. 

The Association of Art Historians held its first official meeting at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in 1974. It was open to “all of those who are directly concerned with the advancement of the study of the history of art,” and within one year over 500 art historians had joined the newly formed AAH.

AAH Oral Histories explores these questions through a series of audio interviews conducted with art historians involved with AAH during its founding era. Highlights of these recordings can be heard by clicking on the link below. The complete recording from the AAH Oral Histories collection will soon to be accessible to researchers through the Archive of Art and Design at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The interviews will also form the basis of the Voices in Art History podcast soon to be made available for download on this site.

Sixteen people were interviewed as part of the project, including art historians specializing in a variety of subject areas, former members of the AAH Executive Committee, editors of its journal Art History, a former administrator, and a publicity and marketing professional – each of whom played a role in the development of the AAH. The interviews complement the written archive of the Association of Art Historians located at the Archive of Art and Design, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and were undertaken by Liz Bruchet between 2009 and 2011.