Art and Illusion

by Gombrich, E. H.

• ISBN13: 9780691070001
• ISBN10: 0691070008
• Edition: Millennium
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-12-04
• Publisher: Bollingen Foundation

Summary

Considered a great classic by all who seek for a meeting ground between science and the humanities, Art and Illusion examines the history and psychology of pictorial representation in light of present-day theories of visual perception information and learning. Searching for a rational explanation of the changing styles of art, Gombrich reexamines many ideas on the imitation of nature and the function of tradition. In testing his arguments he ranges over the history of art, noticing particularly the accomplishments of the ancient Greeks, and the visual discoveries of such masters as Leonardo da Vinci and Rembrandt, as well as the impressionists and the cubists. Gombrich's triumph in Art and Illusion arises from the fact that his main concern is less with the artists than with ourselves, the beholders.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Preface to the 2000 Edition	xxv
Preface	xxxvii
Preface to the Second Edition	xli
Introduction: Psychology and the Riddle of Style	3	(30)
PART ONE : THE LIMITS OF LIKENESS
From Light into Paint	33	(30)
Truth and the Stereotype	63	(30)
PART TWO: FUNCTION AND FORM
Pygmalion's Power	93	(23)
Reflections on the Greek Revolution	116	(30)
Formula and Experience	146	(35)
PART THREE: THE BEHOLDER'S SHARE
The Image in the Clouds	181	(22)
Conditions of Illusion	203	(39)
Ambiguities of the Third Dimension	242	(49)
PART FOUR: INVENTION AND DISCOVERY
The Analysis of Vision in Art	291	(39)
The Experiment of Caricature	330	(29)
From Representation to Expression	359	(34)
Retrospect	393	(6)
Notes	399	(44)
Index	443