Art and Visual Perception
14min
In Art and Visual Perception: the psychology of the creative eye, Rudolf Arnheim explains how psychology and art are closely linked. He then invites the reader to consider a work of art as a complex structure that belongs to a precise context. Furthermore, Arnheim uses real examples, to demonstrate the influence not just of our experience, but also our emotions, on our perception of things.
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Analysis and key concepts
01.
Psychology has always been closely linked to art
02.
Looking at an image is a dynamic act which implies a constant search for balance
03.
Looking doesn’t just mean recording images, but perceiving the subject in front of us based on our experiences
04.
The shape of an object is a quality that transmits emotions
05.
Children’s drawings show us that representation is more than recording things or events. It is a response to intellectual needs related to the growth of the individual
06.
Shadow and light are used to create depth that makes a picture seem more realistic to the human eye
07.
The choice of colours used is highly subjective, and their combination can have very different effects on the viewer
08.
Expression is a movement that expresses emotion, and is a key component of any artwork
09.
Quotes
10.
Take-home message
This book is about perception, which is the psychological process that is triggered in us when we look at something. Through perception, we give meaning to the sensory inputs that come from the outside. To investigate this fascinating and complex process, the author refers to Gestalt theory, a school of thought founded in 1912 by the Czech psychologist Max Wertheimer, and later developed by Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka. The theory is based on perception and experience.
According to Gestalt, when we perceive the external world, we do not simply grasp the sum of the various stimuli before us; we perceive the whole, which is something more than the simple association of single elements. Let's take the example of music: when we listen to a song, we don't hear the individual notes, but the whole tune. In the same way, when you look at the face of someone you love, you see more than a combination of a nose, mouth, chin, eyes and ears. We perceive it in its totality. In fact, Gestalt Theory emphasises that the whole of anything is greater than its parts.
The purpose of this book is to apply these principles to the study of the visual arts. According to Arnheim, art and psychology are closely connected. There have been many psychological studies on the creation of art and the creative process itself. When we see an image, perceptive mechanisms are triggered which are the result of personal experiences and cultural conventions. This brings us to the assumption that the study of art is also the study of human beings.
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The author
Rudolf Arnheim was born in Berlin in 1904, and was a psychologist, art historian, writer, and philosopher. From an early age, he showed great interest in art and, as a teenager, he enjoyed books on the way the human mind works. As an adult, he studied Psychology at the University of Berlin. Influenced by Gestalt psychology, Arnheim studied a combination of psychology and visual arts. He was a prolific author throughout his life, and wrote several books and articles about art and new means of communication, such as radio and cinema.
Edition
Publishing house:
Univ of California Pr
Year:
2004
Pages:
528
ISBN:
978-0520243835