ABSTRACT
Digital spatial technologies are contributing to a dramatic renewal of global and social approaches to art history. Art geographers took their vocabulary, and on occasion their concepts, from geographers. They did not, however, take the step of mapping. Historical mapping presented a major challenge to art history: it asked researchers to consider space and time as constructed, while also recognizing the reality of what used to be called facts. Digital cartographies of galleries and exhibitions can help the specialist on an artist to better situate that individual in the places where she or he worked. “Distribution mapping” is available to beginners with their own data. The use of digital mapping software—Geographical Information System makes it possible to map large quantities of information.
