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

by E. H. Gombrich

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691252742
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Series:	The A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts , #35
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	512
File size:	60 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface to the 2000 Edition

Preface

Preface to the Second Edition

Introduction: Psychology and the Riddle of Style

Part One: The Limits of Likeness

Chapter 1: From Light into Paint

Chapter 2: Truth and the Stereotype

Part Two: Function and Form

Chapter 3: Pygmalion's Power

Chapter 4: Reflections on the Greek Revolution

Chapter 5: Formula and Experience

Part Three: The Beholder's Share

Chapter 6: The Image in the Clouds

Chapter 7: Conditions of Illusion

Chapter 8: Ambiguities of the Third Dimension

Part Four: Invention and Discovery

Chapter 9: The Analysis of Vision in Art

Chapter 10: The Experiment of Caricature

Chapter 11: From Representation to Expression

Retrospect

Notes

Index

Editorial 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

From the Publisher

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

New Republic

"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."

The Economist

"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."

New York Times

"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."

The New York Times

"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."

The New York Times

Ernst 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.

Perception - Richard Gregory

Ernst 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