Mapping the Avantgarde: Visualizing Modern Artists' Exhibition Activity

Abstract

In this paper, we address a crucial challenge for art historians by proposing a visual analytics approach consisting of multiple views designed to facilitate exploration and comparative analysis of artists and their exhibitions. Existing tools to support art-historical research are scarce and lack analytical means to navigate and analyze artists' exhibition activities. Our approach addresses this gap by supporting the identification of geospatial and temporal patterns and offering insights into the multifaceted exhibition behavior of artists in the early 20th century. To demonstrate the efficacy and validate our approach, we present a case study conducted by an art historian in the form of an expert interview. The discussion presents details about insights that were obtained and valuable feedback about the utility of the visual encodings and interactions. By integrating geospatial and temporal facets along with features to perform comparative analysis our approach emerges as a valuable asset for art historians providing a comprehensive look into artists' exhibition histories.