Art history is a discipline shaped from the outset by imaging technologies. Yet debates ensue over whether digital approaches have led merely to methodological, epistemic and ontological shifts. Might today’s computational techniques be said to “reconfigure our fundamental understanding of what constitutes a work of art” (Drucker 2013)? In what ways are computational methods affirming, challenging, and/or shifting computational formalism (Wasielewski)? To what degree are approaches such as distant viewing (Arnold and Tilton 2023) and digital art history as critical AI (Impett and Offert 2024) opening, closing, and expanding the study of art? How might computational analyses illuminate the hidden networks of meaning and influence that underpin visual culture? What other directions might computational methods afford for the analysis and creation of “art”? These are just several questions that we invite researchers to engage.

Rather than viewing art as a static archive, computational approaches invite us to reimagine it as a dynamic site where meanings are constructed, contested, and circulated. By tracing patterns and connections imperceptible to traditional methods—patterns that might reveal, for instance, the interplay between image, audience, and context—these approaches surface visual culture as an active process shaped by the forces of production, mediation, and reception. Accordingly, we also invite submissions that demonstrate how combining methods such as image and network analysis offer a methodological approach into the study of art.

This themed issue aims to explore the ways in which advanced computational techniques are reshaping the methodologies, research questions, and epistemic frameworks within the fields of art history and related disciplines. This issue seeks to highlight how computational humanities contribute to our understanding of art across periods, geographies, and media, and we also welcome work that demonstrates the limits of computational approaches.

Topics of interest

We invite researchers to submit papers that address computational approaches to the study of art or visual culture, broadly understood. We welcome both new contributions as well as extended versions of papers presented at previous CHR conferences.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Computational techniques for the analysis of art
AI/Computer vision methods for art, including clustering and classification
Visualisation strategies for art corpora
Computational approaches to the history of art, including photography
3D and non-flat art culture: architectural history, sculpture, etc.
The gaze of computer vision and GenAI with, through, and creating art
Computational approaches to areas such as restoration and conservation, digital reconstruction, and art markets and audiences
Cross-disciplinary work bridging and expanding art history with other fields
Ethical, political and legal questions.

Submission details
Research Article: 6,000–10,000 words
Replication Study: 6,000–10,000 words
Rapid Communication: max. 6,000 words
Short Article: max. 6,000 words
Software Paper: max. 6,000 words
Survey Paper: 6,000–12,000 words
Registered Report Protocol (Stage 1): 2,000–4,000 words
Registered Report (Stage 2): 6,000–10,000 words

An abstract is required for all article types.
Open access and APCs: Computational Humanities Research is a fully Gold Open Access journal published by Cambridge University Press. Publication costs are covered through several routes:

Corresponding authors at institutions with a Cambridge open access agreement (full APC coverage in most cases)
The Cambridge Open Equity Initiative, which covers authors from over 100 low- and middle-income countries
The Research4Life scheme for eligible authors not covered by the above
Authors with third-party funding (e.g., research grants) are asked to use that funding
Any author not covered by the above can request a full APC waiver after editorial acceptance. No author will face a financial barrier to publication, and editorial decisions are made independently of funding situation.

Full author instructions: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/computational-humanities-research/information/author-instructions

Submission process

Submit via: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ch-research
All submissions should be made via the CHR online peer review system.
Authors should consult the journal’s Authors instructions prior to submission, to ensure compliance with formatting and technical requirements.

Submissions should present original research and will be subject to rigorous peer review.

Contacts

If you have questions about this themed issue, please reach out to the Guest Editors:

Leonardo Impett (University of Cambridge, UK): li222cam.ac.uk
Lin Du (National University of Singapore, Singapore): dulin525gmail.com
Ellen Charlesworth (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg): ellen.charlesworthuni.lu

For any questions relating to editorial policy or the submission process, please contact the journal’s Editorial Office at chrcambridge.org.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/computational-humanities-research/announcements/call-for-papers/computational-approaches-to-art