SMArt Talks: Connected by Design
We cordially invite you to the spring lecture series SMArt Talks, organised by the Centre for Modern Art & Theory. SMArt Talks: Connected by Design start on the 24th of February!
SMArt Talks: A Positivist Art History? The Natural Sciences in the Works of the Catalan Architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch
We cordially invite you to the following SMArt Talks lecture, which will be given by Dr. Lucila Mallart, a historian of modern European culture and art and currently a visiting researcher at the Centre for Modern Art & Theory. The lecture will take place on Thursday, the 24th of April 2025, at the Hans Belting Library at 18:00.
Abstract
The paper analyses the impact of 'positivism' and objective knowledge in the art historical works of Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867–1956). Puig was a renowned Catalan architect, politician and art historian, widely known abroad for his contributions to the history of Romanesque art and architecture. The presentation examines Puig's use of methodologies derived from natural history and the natural sciences, and questions the extent to which these borrowings should be considered 'positivist'. In doing so, Dr. Mallart discusses how science-based approaches influenced the writing of art history at the turn of the 20th century, through changing historical, political and intellectual contexts. Thus, the paper explores the meaning of 'positivism' in core intellectual milieus such as France and Germany, as well as in less explored geographies such as the Catalan and Spanish-speaking worlds.
Lucila Mallart is a cultural and art historian of modern Europe. She received her PhD in Modern European History from the University of Nottingham (2016) and is currently a Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. Her research explores the role of visual culture, urban planning, public exhibitions, and knowledge devices in the making of national identities in modern Spain. She has been a visiting researcher at Harvard University (2023), New Europe College, Institute of Advanced Study of Bucharest (2021–2022), and the University of Helsinki (2019). Her work has appeared in journals and with publishers such as Cultural History, Urban History, Nations and Nationalism, Oxford University Press, Routledge and Peter Lang.