Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation - Millennium Edition

E. H. Gombrich

Published by Princeton University Press 2001

Art and Illusion

A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation - Millennium Edition

E. H. Gombrich

Volume 35 in the series The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts

In the series Bollingen Series (General)

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691252742

Overview
Contents

About this book

A groundbreaking account of perception and art, from one of the twentieth century’s most important art historians

E. H. Gombrich is widely considered to be one of the most influential art historians of the twentieth century, and Art and Illusion is generally agreed to be his most important book. Bridging science and the humanities, this classic work examines the history and psychology of pictorial representation in light of modern theories of information and learning in visual perception. Searching for a rational explanation of the changing styles of art, Gombrich reexamines ideas about the imitation of nature and the function of tradition. In testing his arguments, he ranges over the history of art, from the ancient Greeks, Leonardo, and Rembrandt to the impressionists and the cubists. But the triumphant originality of Art and Illusion is that Gombrich is less concerned with the artists than with the psychological experience of the viewers of their work.

Please note: All images in this ebook are presented in black and white and have been reduced in size.

Author / Editor information

E. H. Gombrich (1909–2001) was director of the Warburg Institute and Professor of the History of the Classical Tradition at the University of London. His best-known book, The Story of Art, has been translated into many languages, and he was also the author of A Little History of the World.

Reviews

"Gombrich is indeed Master Scholar of the highest distinction. He has explored the mysterious links between perception and art—adding to both in the process, with a score of superb books on the history and philosophy of art. . . . [Art and Illusion's] riches can only be appreciated by careful reading, more than once."---Richard Gregory, Perception

"Arguably [Gombrich's] most important book, [Art and Illusion] was controversial in almost every detail. But it brought the topic of the visual back to the centre of the history of the visual arts, from where it had been strangely displaced."

"Gombrich himself is a remarkable intellect, graceful, subtle, profoundly logical and given to using logic to open questions rather than to close them."

"I have learned a great deal from this volume, but what I shall remember about it is the author's warmth and wit, the fabulous range of his references and the richness of personality that lies behind the whole performance."

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface to the Second Edition Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
List of Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	xvii
Introduction: Psychology and the Riddle of Style Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: The Limits of Likeness
1. From Light into Paint Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
2. Truth and the Stereotype Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	63
Part II: Function and Form
3. Pygmalion’s Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
4. Reflections on the Greek Revolution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
5. Formula and Experience Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
Part III: The Beholder’s Share
6. The Image in the Clouds Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
7. Conditions of Illusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
8. Ambiguities of the Third Dimension Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	242
Part IV: Invention and Discovery
9. The Analysis of Vision in Art Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	291
10. The Experiment of Caricature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	330
11. From Representation to Expression Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	359
Retrospect Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	393
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	399
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	443