This talk reflects on the use of computer vision to investigate the global circulation of illustrated images and visual motifs. Through the case of the Visual Contagions project (SNFS 2021-2026, https://www.unige.ch/visualcontagions/), it will show what large-scale computational analysis can reveal—e. g. unexpected formal affinities, chains of reuse, and transnational routes of imagery—while highlighting what such methods can also flatten or miss when detached from cultural-historical interpretation. The presentation will therefore examine the epistemological
stakes of working with digitized images and with algorithmic similarity measures that do not necessarily map onto historical categories of style, genre, or meaning. It will also address the methodological and ethical challenges posed by biased or unevenly digitized archives, and by
spatiotemporal visualizations that can amplify those distortions and create new ones. Overall, the talk argues for a critical, question-driven integration of computer vision in visual studies, where methods serve interpretation rather than substituting for it.

Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel is a historian of contemporary art and images, Full Professor at the University of Geneva where she holds the Chair of Digital Humanities. She mainly works on the globalization of art and images since
the 19th century. Among her publications: Les avant-gardes artistiques. Une Histoire transnationale vol. 1 1848-1918, Gallimard, 2016; vol. 2 1918-1945 : Gallimard, 2017; Naissance de l’art contemporain 1945-1970. Une histoire mondiale, CNRS Editions, 2021 (3 volumes in English translations forthcoming by Brill); and L’art contemporain. Une infographie (CNRS Edition, 2024).