Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 3: Analog Era (1950s)
1959
Herbert W. Franke’s Experimentelle Ästhetik Exhibition
The exhibition was held at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna, presenting the experimental images of the then physicist-artist, Herbert W. Franke. Franke experimented with a variety of machines and technical methods including, analog computers, oscillograms and X-ray machines.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Movements
Analog Computer Art, digital art, Electronic Art, Oscillographic Art
Filed under
- Ideas
- aesthetics, Analog Computer Art, art and science, digital art, science
- Technologies
- analog computing, oscillograms, X-ray
- People
- Herbert W. Franke
- Works
- Electronic Art
- Exhibitions
- Experimentelle Ästhetik
- Organisations
- Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna
- Places
- Vienna
Echoes across time
- 1972 · Grenzgebiete der bildenden Kunst (Frontiers of Fine Arts) Exhibit at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
- 1981 · High Technology Art: A Congressional Exhibition, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
- 1988 · Computers and Art at the IBM Gallery of Science and Art, New York
Le Random editorials
- THEN AND NOW, Jasia Reichardt, June 25, 2024
- Jason Bailey, Georg Bak & Kate Vass on the Art Form of Our Generation, Peter Bauman, May 29, 2024
- Mario Klingemann & A.I.C.C.A. on Alien Perspective, Peter Bauman, March 10, 2025
- Gottfried Jäger on a New Kind of Being, Anika Meier, March 2, 2026
Le Random podcast
- Elevating the Generative Art Space (Launch Episode) with Casey Reas, ciphrd, Anne Spalter, Anika Meier & Georg Bak — listen with transcript on Le Random (28 Jun 2023, 52 min). Transcript mentions Herbert W. Franke. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 1—Pre-Modern Era with Marius Watz — listen with transcript on Le Random (06 Jul 2023, 46 min). Transcript mentions Herbert W. Franke. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 5—Artist-Programmer Era (1970s) with Joan Truckenbrod, Hans Dehlinger & Anika Meier — listen with transcript on Le Random (14 Jan 2024, 65 min). Transcript mentions Herbert W. Franke. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 3—Analog Era (1950s) with Georg Bak — listen with transcript on Le Random (10 Aug 2023, 65 min). Chapter 3’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify