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Topic · Visual Arts and Performing Arts

Visual Culture and Art Theory

Visual Culture and Art Theory is a research topic within Visual Arts and Performing Arts. Science Explorer counts 14k research works in it since 1950. 19.5% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the interdisciplinary study of visual representation and communication, encompassing topics such as visual culture, intermediality, ekphrasis, iconic turn, media studies, sensory studies, cultural studies, art history, semiotics, and photography.

  • Visual Culture
  • Intermediality
  • Ekphrasis
  • Iconic Turn
  • Media Studies
  • Sensory Studies
  • Cultural Studies
  • Art History
  • Semiotics
  • Photography
Research works
14k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
19.5%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+42%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Visual Culture and Art Theory research?

By volume, the United States and Türkiye publish the most (396 and 230 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 396 works
  2. 2 Türkiye 230 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 199 works
  4. 4 Germany 155 works
  5. 5 Russia 151 works
  6. 6 France 150 works
  7. 7 Brazil 138 works
  8. 8 Spain 111 works
  9. 9 Italy 105 works
  10. 10 China 101 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 22.8%Türkiye: 13.2%United Kingdom: 11.5%Germany: 8.9%6 others listed: 43.6%23%largest
United States396 · 22.8%Türkiye230 · 13.2%United Kingdom199 · 11.5%Germany155 · 8.9%6 others listed756 · 43.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Visual Culture and Art Theory research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Film Independent publishes the most Visual Culture and Art Theory research, followed by Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi and St Petersburg University.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Film IndependentUnited States 15 works
  2. 2 Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar ÜniversitesiTürkiye 12 works
  3. 3 St Petersburg UniversityRussia 11 works
  4. 4 Hacettepe UniversityTürkiye 11 works
  5. 5 Stockholm UniversitySweden 11 works
  6. 6 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 10 works
  7. 7 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 10 works
  8. 8 Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli UniversityTürkiye 9 works
  9. 9 Jagiellonian UniversityPoland 9 works
  10. 10 University of ŁódźPoland 9 works

Who are the leading researchers in Visual Culture and Art Theory?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Visual Culture and Art Theory include Ian S. McLean.

  1. 1 Ian S. McLean United States 1.7k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

Where is Visual Culture and Art Theory research done?

The largest centres of Visual Culture and Art Theory research in 2022–2025 are Moscow (Russia), Istanbul (Türkiye), Paris (France) and London (United Kingdom).

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Moscow Russia 64 works
  2. 2 Istanbul Türkiye 58 works
  3. 3 Paris France 57 works
  4. 4 London United Kingdom 43 works
  5. 5 Ankara Türkiye 38 works
  6. 6 Saint Petersburg Russia 33 works
  7. 7 Madrid Spain 28 works
  8. 8 Kyiv Ukraine 28 works
  9. 9 São Paulo Brazil 27 works
  10. 10 New York United States 26 works
See Visual Culture and Art Theory on the map

Where is the best place to study Visual Culture and Art Theory?

Among universities, judged by research, Hacettepe University, Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi and Universidad Complutense de Madrid score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 22.93%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Hacettepe University: 11, 37.6%Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi: 12, 30.9%Universidad Complutense de Madrid: 10, 32.5%Stockholm University: 11, 13.8%St Petersburg University: 11, 15.4%University of Warsaw: 8, 24.2%University of Łódź: 9, 14.9%Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University: 9, 15.9%Universidad de Sevilla: 9, 22.9%Jagiellonian University: 9, 21.2%Hacettepe UniversityUniversidad Complute…Mimar Sinan Güzel Sa…Stockholm University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 Hacettepe UniversityTürkiye 74.337.6%8.4×11 +145.8%
2 Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar ÜniversitesiTürkiye 68.230.9%111.3×12 —
3 Universidad Complutense de MadridSpain 63.132.5%5.2×10 +460.0%
4 Stockholm UniversitySweden 57.113.8%12.8×11 +13.4%
5 St Petersburg UniversityRussia 54.315.4%9.0×11 —
6 University of WarsawPoland 52.224.2%6.1×8 +500.0%
7 University of ŁódźPoland 51.114.9%11.9×9 +110.4%
8 Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli UniversityTürkiye 48.915.9%25.0×9 —
9 Universidad de SevillaSpain 45.622.9%6.2×9 —
10 Jagiellonian UniversityPoland 45.421.2%5.1×9 +143.9%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Visual Culture and Art Theory research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 42% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2021. The fastest-growing topics are Visual Culture and Art Theory.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.