The Mechanization of Art

The Reith Lectures: Archive 1948-1975

This year's lecturer is the first and current Professor of Art History at Oxford University, Edgar Wind. The German-born British professor specialises in iconology in the Renaissance era. In his Reith Series entitled 'Art and Anarchy', Edgar Wind explores the concepts of creative energies produced through turmoil.

In this lecture entitled 'The Mechanization of Art', Edgar Wind considers how machines have influenced art. He untangles conflicting opinions of how mechanics have influenced the production and evaluation of art now that works can be reproduced and multiplied. Professor Wind discusses how our experience of art is affected by the techniques of multiplication, and acknowledges that the creation, preservation and display of art can show signs of a mechanised style.