Introduction

I graduated at ELTE University as an art historian and teacher of art history in 2006. At the same University I also obtained a Programme Degree in art management. I defended my PhD in aesthetics with Summa cum laude qualification at ELTE in 2010, my dissertation surveyed the relationship of German Romantic landscape painting and philosophy of art. I obtained my Habilitation (venia legendi) in philosophy at SZTE in 2021, my topic was the aesthetics of ruins.

I have been working in higher education since 2007. I was teaching in different universities in Hungary, as well as in Turkey at Izmir University (2013-2014) and in the United Arab Emirates, at the University of Sharjah (2014-2020), in the latter I also served as Department Chair in the last year. As an Erasmus guest teacher I lectured in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Iceland.

Currently I am the Deputy Secretary-General of The International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences (CIPSH) that was founded by UNESCO in 1949. Between 2016 and 2022 I was Secretary General of the International Association for Aesthetics (IAA). I am editorial or advisory board member for ten international journals, scientific periodicals and cultural magazines. So far I published three single-authored and one co-authored books, and four edited volumes.

Besides my teaching activities, as well as my research in classical art and theory, I am also active in contemporary art: I write catalogues and art critiques. As a curator of contemporary art I organised exhibitions in six countries (Hungary, Austria, Slovakia, Croatia, Italy, United Arab Emirates).

In 2024 I received the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for a three-year research, where my topic is: “Art and Catastrophe. Challenging Aesthetics Around Environmental Destruction.” Between 2022-2025 I am a Senior Researcher in the project titled “Perspectives in Environmental Aesthetics”, supported by the National Research, Development and Innovation Office (OTKA). In 2015-2016 in the University of Sharjah I was the Principal Investigator of a Seed Research Project, the topic was “Ruined fortresses in the UAE and Oman. Aesthetics and Heritage.”

Research profile

Both as a research and as a teacher I work in an interdisciplinary approach, and also in my publications I am at the intersection of art history and aesthetics. My main fields of research are the aesthetics of ruins, the art historical and aesthetic aspects of the representations of landscapes, environmental aesthetics, as well as issues related to contemporary art and architecture. When investigating contemporary art I put a strong emphasis on comparative and intercultural approaches by including the analyses of artists and artistic traditions from beyond Europe. Instead of the traditional juxtaposition of “old or contemporary” I pursue a more dynamic approach, spanning different periods and research fields, in which the analyses of classical art historical subjects and aesthetics is just as important as the examination of the aesthetics, tendencies and markets of contemporary art.

List of publications

https://m2.mtmt.hu/gui2/?type=authors&mode=browse&sel=authors10030666