The research blog Before Abstraction aims to record the activities and present the results of the project Abstraction Before the Age of Abstract Art, a research program in Art History between Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland (USA) and the École des hautes études en sciences sociales, Paris (France), sponsored by the FACE Foundation (2018-2020).

This project is predicated on the extensive collaboration between the two project leaders, Elina Gertsman (Case Western Reserve University) and Vincent Debiais (EHESS) as well as on the active involvement of their graduate students. All activities are conceived as part of a research and training initiative for scholars at different stages of their career, involved in the creation of an original and groundbreaking joint program spearheaded by French and American scholars.