Abstract
This article questions the existence of a shared European visual culture by examining how images circulated across the continent from the late nineteenth to the mid‑twentieth century. It revisits the post‑war concepts of Weltliteratur and Malraux’s Musée imaginaire, showing how they sought to ground European unity in culture despite their Western‑centric biases. Through the categories of witness images, constructed images, and circulating images, the text argues that visuals both reflect and shape European identities. Large‑scale analysis of illustrated press images (1880–1960) reveals that art images—especially religious motifs and reproductions—were the only visual content consistently circulating across Europe. The article advocates for a circulation‑based approach to understand how images transform across contexts and contribute to the complex, uneven formation of a European cultural consciousness.
Recommended Citation
Joyeux-Prunel, Béatrice. "Thinking Europe Visually. A Schizophrenic Certitude." Artl@s Bulletin 12, no. 1 (2023): Article 1.
