# Simon Lindner ![Simon Lindner Photo](/sites/g/files/omnuum4426/files/styles/hwp_4_5__320x400/public/2026-09/_NZF3819-4.jpg?itok=y2NhlRYV) email Simon Lindner is a PhD candidate in Art History at Eikones Center for the Theory and History of Images at the University of Basel. In fall of 2026, he is a Visiting Scholar in the Department of History of Art and Architecture hosted by Professor Joseph L. Koerner. His research addresses the social conditions of modern painting and takes a close look at the *Rückenfigur* (a figure seen from behind), a characteristic element of Caspar David Friedrich’s landscape paintings. This figure has long been at the center of art-theoretical attention to Friedrich, yet it has been interpreted almost exclusively as a device of aesthetic address. Simon Lindner claims that the figure also refers to historical processes of social marginalization that took place in the context of economic, infrastructural, and touristic land use. More broadly, his research revolves around the political function of landscape, the relationship between art and technology, and questions of class, morality, and secularization. His work has previously received funding from the *Deutschlandstipendium*, the Terra Foundation for American Art, and the Humboldt Graduate School. He holds a BA and an MA from Humboldt-Universität Berlin. - ## People [Visiting Scholars](/people/visiting)