Our Mission

To reestablish objective artistic quality as the foundation for understanding and authenticating high avant-garde art, moving beyond excessive interpretation, mythology, and market-driven hype.

Guiding Principle: Sine ira et studio

"Without anger and prejudice" — This classical principle demands rigorous objectivity, free from:

  • Narcotic worship of formerly forbidden works
  • Plebeian skepticism
  • Over-intellectualization that obscures the artwork itself
  • Fashion-driven market valuations

Foundational Philosophy

The Institute's analytical framework rests on Aristotelian measure: "True creation has no voids and no excess—nothing to add, nothing to remove." This timeless standard of artistic merit applies equally to avant-garde innovators as to classical masters.

Through Gadamer's insight, we recognize the modern artist as both discoverer and inventor, subject to the same rigorous standards of artistic excellence that have defined quality across centuries.

Our Approach

Our methodology prioritizes direct engagement with artworks, allowing formal qualities, technical mastery, and genuine innovation to speak louder than theoretical constructs or marketplace enthusiasm. By returning to the fundamental substance of art, we create space for authentic understanding.

The Jahrhundertwende: 1890-1930

We specialize in the transformative period known as the Jahrhundertwende (Turn of Centuries), approximately 1890-1930, encompassing:

  • Fin de siècle innovations
  • Classical avant-garde peak
  • The era before commercialization and dilution

Quality Standards

High Avant-Garde designation requires:

  • Genuine formal innovation
  • Technical mastery demonstrating substance of art
  • Historical significance
  • Benchmark-worthy characteristics

Strategic Positioning

IEHA occupies a unique position within the art world infrastructure, synthesizing strengths from museums, academic journals, and market platforms while avoiding their limitations.

Versus Museums

  • Cross-institutional scope: Not limited to single collection or institutional perspective
  • Methodology-focused mission: Develops analytical frameworks rather than mounting exhibitions
  • Active authentication service: Provides expert consultations directly

Versus Academic Journals

  • Visual-first presentation: High-resolution images with deep zoom capability
  • Practitioner network inclusion: Engages collectors, dealers, and conservators
  • Applied methodology focus: Immediate use in authentication contexts

Versus Art Market Platforms

  • Non-commercial orientation: Quality assessment independent of sales motivation
  • Scholarly standards: Peer review and transparent methodology
  • Educational mission: Knowledge preservation supersedes transaction facilitation

"The modern artist as discoverer and inventor remains subject to the same timeless standards of artistic merit that have distinguished genuine creation from mere gesture across centuries. Our task is neither to diminish avant-garde achievement through skepticism nor to inflate it through uncritical celebration, but rather to see clearly what stands before us."

— IEHA Founding Principles, 2013