Art and Illusion

A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation - Millennium Edition

E. H. Gombrich

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9780691070001
• eBook ISBN:
  9780691252742
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Theory & Criticism

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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• CONTENTS
• PREFACE
• PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
• Introduction: Psychology and the Riddle of Style
• PART ONE: THE LIMITS OF LIKENESS
• PART TWO: FUNCTION AND FORM
• PART THREE : THE BEHOLDER’S SHARE
• PART FOUR: INVENTION AND DISCOVERY
• Retrospect
• NOTES
• INDEX