Part 1: The book Art and Illusion by E.H. Gombrich covers the subject of Art psychology. The psychology of art is a field that studies the perception, cognition and characteristics of art and the production of art. This field is extremely important as it allows us to get in touch with the creativity of human beings and lets us examine the extent of the human mind.
E.H Gombrich aims to explain why style exists in art. This is a vital issue since art could not exist without style. Specifically he tackles the question “why have different ages and different nations represented the visible world in such different ways?” He answers this by a means of combining psychology, science, and philosophy. Gombrich’s theory is that artists begin with a concept or idea and fit that idea to a physical object or setting before them. Gombrich, though a well known and highly thought of professor of fine arts and psychology, still has a bias. Gombrich was an Austrian born man who became a citizen of Britain early on in his life. Because he was a European inhabitant of the 20th century most of the art he uses to prove his theory are classic European works which is biased against other works of art from across the world. As well, Gombrich himself is not an artist so he cannot speak from personal experience, but can only make observations about other artists and their works of art. However, Gombrich’s biases do not have a great effect on the book as a whole.
The four main sections of Art and Illusion that contain Gombrich’s four main arguments are: Limits of Likeness, Function and Form, The Beholder’s Share, and Invention and Discovery. In Limits of Likeness Gombrich explains the limits of representation. We can only capture so much of reality in artwork and this determines the limits of style as well and the limitation force artists into specific styles. In Function and Form Gombrich explains how the functionality of artwork alters the style of the artist. The function of the art work is determined by the cultural setting the artist is in. The Beholder’s Share section argues that the meaning and style of a piece lies in the hands of the observer as well as the artist. The observer is able to identify certain aspects of the piece that speak to them and determine the style. In Invention and Discovery Gombrich explains how the past experiments and discoveries of art have been passed down from artist to artist changing style along the generations.
Part 2: Art and Illusion was very effective in proving its thesis. The book was well ordered and organized which made it easy to follow and note the main arguments. Gombrich is also a very witty writer which made the book interesting and entertaining. One of the most helpful text features that he used were pictures and diagrams. Since the topic being discussed through out the book is fine art, it is logical and helpful that Gombrich uses pictures and diagrams to help make his point throughout the book. The pictures and diagrams were helpful because they allowed me to see the works of art from which Gombrich formed his argument and I was given the opportunity to make a fair assessment of his argument. There were also some weaknesses, however, to Art and Illusion. Gombrich’s book was meant for students of higher education so the vocabulary used is often hard to comprehend. As well I believe Gombrich could have included more international and modern art which would have deepened the roots of his thesis.
E. H. Gombrich’s Art and Illusion is widely recognized as one of the greatest art psychology books of the modern world and has been regarded by critics to be his most influential and far-reaching piece of work. This is said because his book is so effective in answering one of the greatest questions in the art world; “why are their different styles?”. Unlike other authors dealing with the same subject before and after him they do not deal with the wide range of subject areas that Gombrich draws his evidence from. Many books about art and perception deal with the science of vision or purely the psychology or philosophy behind art, rarely ever the combination of all three. Gombrich’s combination of all three fields makes Art and Illusion an even more powerful book.
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ReplyDeleteThe book Art and Illusion by E.H. Gombrich covers the subject of Art psychology. The psychology of art is a field that studies the perception, cognition and characteristics of art and the production of art. This field is extremely important as it allows us to get in touch with the creativity of human beings and lets us examine the extent of the human mind.
E.H Gombrich aims to explain why style exists in art. This is a vital issue since art could not exist without style. Specifically he tackles the question “why have different ages and different nations represented the visible world in such different ways?” He answers this by a means of combining psychology, science, and philosophy. Gombrich’s theory is that artists begin with a concept or idea and fit that idea to a physical object or setting before them. Gombrich, though a well known and highly thought of professor of fine arts and psychology, still has a bias. Gombrich was an Austrian born man who became a citizen of Britain early on in his life. Because he was a European inhabitant of the 20th century most of the art he uses to prove his theory are classic European works which is biased against other works of art from across the world. As well, Gombrich himself is not an artist so he cannot speak from personal experience, but can only make observations about other artists and their works of art. However, Gombrich’s biases do not have a great effect on the book as a whole.
The four main sections of Art and Illusion that contain Gombrich’s four main arguments are: Limits of Likeness, Function and Form, The Beholder’s Share, and Invention and Discovery. In Limits of Likeness Gombrich explains the limits of representation. We can only capture so much of reality in artwork and this determines the limits of style as well and the limitation force artists into specific styles. In Function and Form Gombrich explains how the functionality of artwork alters the style of the artist. The function of the art work is determined by the cultural setting the artist is in. The Beholder’s Share section argues that the meaning and style of a piece lies in the hands of the observer as well as the artist. The observer is able to identify certain aspects of the piece that speak to them and determine the style. In Invention and Discovery Gombrich explains how the past experiments and discoveries of art have been passed down from artist to artist changing style along the generations.
Part 2:
ReplyDeleteArt and Illusion was very effective in proving its thesis. The book was well ordered and organized which made it easy to follow and note the main arguments. Gombrich is also a very witty writer which made the book interesting and entertaining. One of the most helpful text features that he used were pictures and diagrams. Since the topic being discussed through out the book is fine art, it is logical and helpful that Gombrich uses pictures and diagrams to help make his point throughout the book. The pictures and diagrams were helpful because they allowed me to see the works of art from which Gombrich formed his argument and I was given the opportunity to make a fair assessment of his argument. There were also some weaknesses, however, to Art and Illusion. Gombrich’s book was meant for students of higher education so the vocabulary used is often hard to comprehend. As well I believe Gombrich could have included more international and modern art which would have deepened the roots of his thesis.
E. H. Gombrich’s Art and Illusion is widely recognized as one of the greatest art psychology books of the modern world and has been regarded by critics to be his most influential and far-reaching piece of work. This is said because his book is so effective in answering one of the greatest questions in the art world; “why are their different styles?”. Unlike other authors dealing with the same subject before and after him they do not deal with the wide range of subject areas that Gombrich draws his evidence from. Many books about art and perception deal with the science of vision or purely the psychology or philosophy behind art, rarely ever the combination of all three. Gombrich’s combination of all three fields makes Art and Illusion an even more powerful book.