Digital Art History has often aligned itself with the practical concerns of digital technology and the responsibilities of art institutions and associated institutional roles such as collection managers, information specialists, curators, and conservators. This emphasis on practicalities and implementation, while undeniably important, has often meant that there is little room for critical examination of the broader implications of digital technology and computational methodologies in art history.

This anthology seeks to address the dearth of critical reflection by approaching the use of digital technology in art history from a theoretical perspective and critically assessing specific case study examples. This book also considers the political dimensions associated with the large-scale digitization and the application of digital tools within museums and collection management.

A long-standing concern of the field—and also a major focal point of this book—is museum and collecting practices in the digital era. While there is a certain degree of continuity in the field, there are some important shifts and changes too. One of the key changes is the widespread uptake of artificial intelligence tools and an increased attention to both the broader historical and societal aspects of the use of digital tools within museums and collection management.

'Critical Digital Art History [...] poses some wonderful opportunities in the digital arena. Two strong characteristics make it excel at contributing meaningfully to the growing conversation surrounding art history practice, tools, and method in the digital era. First, it is an anthology, and anthologies are highly recommended research gold mines because of the many voices and perspectives they can explore. Second, this book is rooted in diverse case study examples. This brilliant combination of diverse voices and diverse situations make this outstanding for the researcher and art historian seeking to learn more about professional practice and more in the digital era. Highly recommended.'

Amanda Wasielewski is Associate Senior Lecturer of Digital Humanities and Associate Professor (Docent) of Art History at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her recent research is on the use of artificial intelligence techniques to study and create art.
Anna Näslund is professor of Art History at Stockholm University, Sweden. She has written extensively on various aspects of photography and visual culture, the digital turn, archives and museum practices.