Role
Emeritus Professor of Aesthetics and Art Theory
Prior to retirement he was School Research Professor for the Nottingham Trent School of Art and Design and Chair of relevant committees. Prior to that, and for many years, he had been in charge of the School’s programme of cultural studies.
Research areas
His special research interests are in art historiography and art theory, particularly in the theory of the image. He is currently working on the Vienna School of Art History in the context of its contemporary philosophy and psychology. Having completed books on Riegl and Warburg he is now engaged in a book on German philosophy and art historiography. He has edited Gombrich on Art and Psychology (1996), Gombrich's Reflections on the History of Art (1987), The Essential Gombrich (1996), Ernst Gombrich, Dal mio tempo: Città, maestri, incontri (1999) and constructed the Gombrich Archive, which linked to this website. In the long term he intends to complete a study of Gombrich's work.
He is also interested in the history of art theory and the emergence of aesthetics in 18th century Britain. His current interest in this area is the English reception of Leonardo’s Trattato della Pittura.
Visual Arts
External activity
He has been Secretary General and First Vice-President of the International Association of Aesthetics, Honorary Vice-President of the Hungarian Association of Aesthetics, Secretary and Honorary Vice-President of the British Society of Aesthetics, Honorary Member of the Italian Association of Aesthetics.
He has edited Point (the British Art and Design research journal), the Journal of Visual Arts Practice and has been Guardian of the International Association of Aesthetics Yearbook Website.
He has externally examined PhDs in Art History and the Visual Arts and has acted as research evaluator for the Soros Foundation and national scientific institutes.