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Shades and shadows in art -- Exhibitions., Visual perception -- Exhibitions., and Art, European -- Exhibitions.

Cast shadows have been exploited in art to enhance the impression of the surrounding light as well as that of the solidity of the casting objects. They can contribute to the mood of the scene, and can reveal the presence of features outside the space represented, but as Professor Gombrich points out, they appear only sporadicaly and have been more frequently ignored or suppressed in Western art. Gombrich touches on the ambiguous nature of shadows in myth, legend, and philosophy, and briefly analyses the factors governing their shape: the location and form of the light source, the shape of the illuminated object and that of the surface on which the shadow falls, and the position of the viewer. Early Renaissance painters such as Masaccio and Campin, intent on a faithful rendering of visual reality, did incorporate shadows in their art, but artists of Leonardo's time largely avoided painting them, and it was not until early in the seventeenth century that painters - particualrly Caravaggio and Rembrandt - were again interested in the effects of shadows. In subsequent centuries artists of the Romantic, Impressionist and Surrealist movements exploited the device of the cast shadow to enhance the realism or drama of their images.

World history -- Juvenile literature.

World history -- Juvenile literature.

Aesthetics., Art -- Philosophy., Art -- Psychology., and Primitivism in art.

Publisher's description: This book, the last to be completed by the author, is a study of a recurring phenomenon in the history of changing taste in the visual arts, namely the feeling that older and less sophisticated (i.e. 'primitive') works are somehow morally and aesthetically superior to later works that have become soft and decadent. In his first narrative work for over twenty years, Gombrich traces this idea back to classical antiquity and links it both with Cicero's observation that over-indulgence of the senses leads to a feeling of disgust, and with the profoundly influential metaphor comparing the development of art to that of a living organism. Like an organism, art grows to maturity, then decays and dies, and successive generations of artists and critics have preferred the strength, nobility and sincerity of earlier styles to the more refined later styles with their corrupting and meretricious appeal to the senses. Summing up more than forty years of study and reflection on this theme, the book presents a closely argued narrative supported by extensive quotations that document with precision the role of authors, critics and artists in shaping and changing opinion. After reviewing the classical authors whose writings largely set the terms of the debate, Gombrich then charts its progress from its revival in the eighteenth century, documenting the often subtle shifts of taste and judgment that frequently focus on the pivotal role of Raphael in the history of taste. In the final chapters he turns to the truly revolutionary primitivism of the twentieth century, analyzing the momentous shifts of taste of which he was himself an eyewitness. Important both as a personal testament and as a documentary anthology, this long-awaited book fittingly provides a deep and revealing insight into the history and psychology of taste.

Art -- Psychology.

"Considered a great classic by all who seek 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 main concern is less with the artists than with ourselves, the beholders."--Jacket.

Visual communication in art., Art and society., Art -- Psychology., and Essays.

"In this new volume of essays Professor Gombrich takes up and develops themes that have long preoccupied him in his study of visual imagery of all kinds. Central to these essays is a consuming interest in the functions of images, and how these functions - and the images - change over time."--Jacket.

Palazzo del Te (Mantua, Italy), Decoration and ornament, Architectural -- Italy -- Mantua., Mannerism (Art) -- Italy -- Mantua., and Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Jews -- Austria -- Vienna -- Civilization. and Jews -- Identity.

Art -- Psychology., Visual perception., Art -- Philosophy., and Art.

To the extent that any art historian becomes "famous," Sir Ernst Gombrich is the most famous art historian in the world. He is the author of the seminal work The Story of Art, a staunch champion of the traditional canon, and a perceptive analyst of artistry and illusion. This massive collection includes essays, excerpts from the groundbreaking Art and Illusion, autobiographical notes, and reflections on artists from Raphael to Saul Steinberg. Gombrich is not a modernist, and he has been criticized for his misunderstanding of abstract painting; but his conceptions of art encompass modern psychology and history, the study of gesture and ornament, and the social history of art. Above all, Gombrich stands against sweeping generalizations, maintaining that works of art "are not the results of some mysterious activity, but objects made by human beings for human beings."

Art -- History., History., and Visual arts History

"The Story of Art is one of the most famous and popular books on art ever published. For 45 years it has remained unrivalled as an introduction to the whole subject, from the earliest cave paintings to the experimental art of today. Readers of all ages and backgrounds throughout the world have found in Professor Gombrich a true master, who combines knowledge and wisdom with a unique gift for communicating directly his own deep love of the works of art he describes." "The Story of Art owes its lasting popularity to the directness and simplicity of the writing, and also the author's skill in presenting a clear narrative. He describes his aim as 'to bring some intelligible order into the wealth of names, periods and styles which crowd the pages of more ambitious works', and using his insight into the psychology of the visual arts, he makes us see the history of art as 'a continuous weaving and changing of traditions in which each work refers to the past and points to the future', 'a living chain that still links our own time with the Pyramid age'. In its new format, the 16th edition of this classic work is set to continue its triumphant progress for future generations and to remain the first choice for all newcomers to art."--Jacket.

Shades and shadows in art -- Exhibitions., Art -- Technique -- Exhibitions., Visual perception -- Exhibitions., and Exhibition catalogs.

Cast shadows have been exploited in art to enhance the impression of the surrounding light as well as that of the solidity of the casting objects. They can contribute to the mood of the scene, and can reveal the presence of features outside the space represented, but as Professor Gombrich points out, they appear only sporadicaly and have been more frequently ignored or suppressed in Western art. Gombrich touches on the ambiguous nature of shadows in myth, legend, and philosophy, and briefly analyses the factors governing their shape: the location and form of the light source, the shape of the illuminated object and that of the surface on which the shadow falls, and the position of the viewer. Early Renaissance painters such as Masaccio and Campin, intent on a faithful rendering of visual reality, did incorporate shadows in their art, but artists of Leonardo's time largely avoided painting them, and it was not until early in the seventeenth century that painters - particualrly Caravaggio and Rembrandt - were again interested in the effects of shadows. In subsequent centuries artists of the Romantic, Impressionist and Surrealist movements exploited the device of the cast shadow to enhance the realism or drama of their images.

Art, Renaissance -- Italy., Art, Italian., and Composition (Art)

Art -- Philosophy.

Art historians -- Austria -- Interviews. and Interviews.

"People know me as the author of The Story of Art who have never heard of me as a scholar. But many of my colleagues have never read the book. They may have read my papers on Poussin or Leonardo, but not that. It is a curious double life." Sir Ernst Gombrich is one of the very few men able to lead such a double life, as familiar to the general public as to academicians. Recently the French intellectual Didier Eribon engaged in a series of probing conversations with Gombrich, seeking to discover how his mind and attitudes had been formed during his early years in Vienna and how they developed after he emigrated to England in 1939. There, Gombrich wrote The Story of Art, his acclaimed introductory art survey, and became director of the Warburg Institute in London. The result of the dialogue between these two men is found in this fascinating and thought-provoking volume. Gombrich tells of reading, examining, pondering and talking to numerous historians, psychologists, artists, and philosophers - among them Erwin Panofsky, Karl Popper, Oskar Kokoschka, and Konrad Lorenz - about subjects ranging from art history to biology and zoology. The reader observes one of our century's most acute minds as he informally brings together all the themes that have preoccupied him for over sixty years - the "meaning" of paintings especially those of the Renaissance; the relation between representational art and perception; and the way in which our responses are conditioned by conventions, history, social pressures, and changes of taste. As undogmatic, skeptical, and wide-ranging as ever, Gombrich not only provides a brilliant account of his life's work but also makes us think anew about fundamental issues, provoking as many questions as he answers.

Art historians -- Austria -- Interviews., Arts, and Science

Last Supper in art., Paintings, and Italy

Art, Renaissance., Art -- Technique., and Composition (Art)

German philology. and Art and literature.

Art historians -- Austria -- Interviews.