Intentionality in art: empirical exposure

Abstract

In academicized art history, artworks were traditionally construed to embody historical time and place as well as the particulars of artistic production, from the intentions of the artist to the broader historical context. But there has been no general agreement – formalism for example completely excised context from analysis – as to which particulars had to be dealt with in order for an art-historical interpretation to be complete. Instead, it was analytic aesthetics (and literary theory) that most extensively applied itself to one such particular, the issue of artistic intention. While there are certain parallels between the analytic philosophical and art historical references to intention, the vigorous debate of intentionality that is alive and well in philosophical and literary circles has no equivalent in art historical discourse. This article will address this lacuna by locating intentionality in the domain of the visual arts with a view to real-world art production and consumption mechanisms.

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