Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #140978 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Review
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. -- Review

Review
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 )

[Sir Ernst's] own theory of perception, put forward in Art and Illusion . . . arguably his most important book, 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.
(The New York Times )

About the Author
E. H. Gombrich was director of the Warburg Institute and Professor of the History of the Classical Tradition at the University of London, 1959-1976. He was born in 1909 in Vienna, where he studied the history of art under Julius von Schlosser and classical archaeology under Emanuel Loewy. He has been Slade Professor of Fine Art at both Oxford and Cambridge, Visiting Professor at Harvard, Spencer Trask Lecturer at Princeton, and Walker Ames Professor at the University of Washington. His best-known book, The Story of Art (1950) has been translated into thirteen languages.

Customer Reviews

An extremely though-provokling and worthwhile book
In this now classic work, Gombrich uses his command of the history of art to reflect deeply on how creators and viewers of illusionistic, that is representational art, do what they do. While he wrote this in the 50's, and is deficient when it comes to issues of abstract art (which is really outside his stated purview) he comes close to what might now be termed a post-structuralist view of seeing, certainly an extremely careful and sophisticated one. Old-fashiioned as some of the language is, the book remains fresh and well worth reading or re-reading. The numerous and very well-chosen illustrations are unusually well coordinated in their placement, so that the reader rarely is forced to lose her place while thumbing back and forth in search of them.

No one does it better
When asked to recommend an art book, I frequently compare art books to chemistry books or math books. These books usually assume you understand, at the minimum, the symbol for salt or the math equation to measure an area. For this book, it would help if you are familiar with the main phases of representational styles in art. For this is not a picture book, but rather reading material with explanatory pictures on the psychology of perception.

But, Dr. Gombrich wrote for the general public and nobody does it better. Having read all his books more than once, he takes you by the hand, leads you down his primrose path, and entices you by way of his poetic language; much like walking in a garden with a gardener. You may not know all the plant's latin names, but the experience is rewarding.

Art and Illusion review by artist/filmmaker
Art & Illusion is an altogether brilliant text - one of the most profound discussions of fine art in the 20th century. No matter what one's field - whether painting, film, new media, performance art - it is a book both timeless and essential.