The September 2010 issue of Visual Resources was the first of two dedicated to Helene E. Roberts' scholarly contributions. The second special issue appeared in March 2011. Edited by Julie Codell, the issues are divided among topics to which Roberts contributed during her career and in her writings: the art press and photography and collecting and iconography. In 1993 in Visual Resources, Roberts noted that most of us learn about art from "surrogate images" and their verbal descriptions called ekphrasis. Roberts observed that our first view of a reproduction of a work of art is often the most lasting, and she echoed Jean Baudrillard's notion of the simulacrum, the sign that replaces the real thing of which it is the sign.

This first collection of articles (26, no. 3) dedicated to Roberts focuses on ideas about reproductions, simulacra, Marshall McLuhan's notions, and recent theories of mediology. Reproductions are not always cases of lost auras, as Walter Benjamin argued, but acquire new auras, as reflected in Roberts' studies of surrogate or "second hand" images that acquire a new reality, apart from any "original" art they recall and which we may or may not ever see. Thus, images of artworks are like other material objects with which we create a complex enclosing environment of things we cherish and wish to remember.

The second issue (27, no. 1) explores two areas to which she contributed during her lifetime: iconography and collecting. As a librarian and archivist, Roberts had extensive experience organizing and cataloging collections and understood the complexities of making public collections accessible. In her innovative research on iconography, she rejected the notion of iconography as a fixed system and instead recognized the historical circumstances and changes in the meanings of icons and artists’ imaginative use and invention of iconographic images and meanings. Authors in this collection expound on Roberts’ historical approach to iconography and on her interest in the interface of private and public collections.

Read articles from A Tribute to Helene E. Roberts - Part 1
Read articles from A Tribute to Helene E. Roberts - Part 2
Read the Editorial by Christine Sundt Free Online - Part 1
Read the Editorial by Christine Sundt Free Online - Part 2

Special Offer

In honor of Helene E. Roberts we are offering you discounted subscriptions to the volumes which incorporate one of the issues dedicated to Helene E. Roberts.

You can subscribe to the 2010 or 2011 volumes (or both) at the discounted rate of £33/US$60/€48 each (normal rate £203/US$245/€196 each). Each volume consists of four issues.