Art and visual perception : a psychology of the creative eye
Arnheim, Rudolf
Art and visual perception : a psychology of the creative eye - Berkeley University of California Press 1974 - x,508p.
CONTENTS
PREFACE TO THE NEW VERSION ix
INTRODUCTION I
I. BALANCE 10
The hidden structure of a square, 10. What are perceptual forces? 16. Two disks in a square, i8» Psychological and physical balance, 19. Why balance? 20. Weight, 23. Direction, 26. Patterns of bal¬ance, 29. Top and bottom, 30. Right and left, 33. Balance and the human mind, 36. Madame Cezanne in a yellow chair, 37.
II. SHAPE 42
Vision as active exploration, 42. Grasping the essentials, 43. Per¬ceptual concepts, 44. What is shape ? 47. The i nfluence of the past, 48. Seeing shape, 51. Simplicity, 55. Simplification demonstrated, 63. Leveling and sharpening, 66. A whole maintains itself, 67. Sub¬division, 69. Why the eyes often tell the truth, 73. Subdivision in the arts, 74. What is a part? 76. Similarity and difference, 79. Ex¬amples from art, 88. The structural skeleton, 92.
III. FORM 96
Orientation in space, 98. Projections, 103. Which aspect is best? 106. The Egyptian method, 112. Foreshortening, 116. Overlapping, 120. What good does overlapping do? 123. Interplay of plane and depth, 127. Competing aspects, 130. Realism and reality, 134. What looks lifelike? 136. Form as invention, 139. Levels of abstraction, 144. La source, 152. Visual information, 156.
IV. GROWTH 162
Why do children draw that way? 163. The intellectualistic theory, 164. They draw what they see, 167. Representational concepts, 169. Drawing as motion, 171. The primordial circle, 174. The law of differentiation, 179. Verticle and horizontal, 182. Obliqueness, 187. The fusion of parts, 191. Size, 195. The misnamed tadpoles, 197. Translation into two dimensions, 199. Educational consequences, 203. The birth of form in sculpture, 208. Sticks and slabs, 209. The cube and the round, 215.
V. SPACE 218
Line and contour, 219. Contour rivalry, 223. Figure and ground, 227. Depth levels, 233. Application to painting, 234. Frames and windows, 239. Concavity in sculpture, 241. Why do we see depth? 245. Depth by overlapping, 248. Transparency, 253. Deformations create space, 258. Boxes in three dimensions, 261. Help from physi¬cal space, 269. Simple rather than truthful, 271. Gradients create depth, 275. Toward a convergence of space, 280. The two roots of central perspective, 283. Not a faithful projection, 285. Pyramidal space, 287. The symbolism of a focused world, 294. Centrality and infinity, 297. Playing with the rules, 298.
VI. LIGHT 303
The experience of light, 303. Relative brightness, 305. Illumination, 309. Light creates space, 311. Shadows, 315. Painting without light¬ing, 320. The symbolism of light, 324.
VII. COLOR 330
From light to color, 330. Shape and color, 332. How colors come about, 337. The generative primaries, 339. Addition and subtrac¬tion, 341. Generative complementaries, 342. A capricious medium, 344. The quest for harmony, 346. The elements of the scale, 350. Syntax of combinations, 353. The fundamental complementaries, 3'57- Interaction of color, 362. Matisse and El Greco, 364. Reactions to color, 368. Warm and cold, 369.
VIII. MOVEMENT 372
Happenings and time, 372. Simultaneity and sequence, 375. When do we see motion? 378. Direction, 382. The revelations of speed,
384. Stroboscopic movement, 387. Some problems of film editing, 392. Visible motor forces, 394. A scale of complexity, 398. The body as instrument, 403. The kinesthetic body image, 406.
IX. DYNAMICS 410
Simplicity is not enough, 410. Dynamics and its traditional inter¬pretations, 412. A diagram of forces, 416. Experiments on directed tension, 419. Immobile motion, 423. The dynamics of obliqueness, 424. Tension in deformation., 428. Dynamic composition, 432. Stroboscopic effects, 434. How does dynamics come about? 437. Examples from art, 440.
X. EXPRESSION 444
Traditional theories, 445. Expression embedded in structure, 449. The priority of expression, 454. Symbolism in art, 457.
NOTES 463
BIBLIOGRAPHY 487
INDEX 503
0520243838
741.601 / ARN
Art and visual perception : a psychology of the creative eye - Berkeley University of California Press 1974 - x,508p.
CONTENTS
PREFACE TO THE NEW VERSION ix
INTRODUCTION I
I. BALANCE 10
The hidden structure of a square, 10. What are perceptual forces? 16. Two disks in a square, i8» Psychological and physical balance, 19. Why balance? 20. Weight, 23. Direction, 26. Patterns of bal¬ance, 29. Top and bottom, 30. Right and left, 33. Balance and the human mind, 36. Madame Cezanne in a yellow chair, 37.
II. SHAPE 42
Vision as active exploration, 42. Grasping the essentials, 43. Per¬ceptual concepts, 44. What is shape ? 47. The i nfluence of the past, 48. Seeing shape, 51. Simplicity, 55. Simplification demonstrated, 63. Leveling and sharpening, 66. A whole maintains itself, 67. Sub¬division, 69. Why the eyes often tell the truth, 73. Subdivision in the arts, 74. What is a part? 76. Similarity and difference, 79. Ex¬amples from art, 88. The structural skeleton, 92.
III. FORM 96
Orientation in space, 98. Projections, 103. Which aspect is best? 106. The Egyptian method, 112. Foreshortening, 116. Overlapping, 120. What good does overlapping do? 123. Interplay of plane and depth, 127. Competing aspects, 130. Realism and reality, 134. What looks lifelike? 136. Form as invention, 139. Levels of abstraction, 144. La source, 152. Visual information, 156.
IV. GROWTH 162
Why do children draw that way? 163. The intellectualistic theory, 164. They draw what they see, 167. Representational concepts, 169. Drawing as motion, 171. The primordial circle, 174. The law of differentiation, 179. Verticle and horizontal, 182. Obliqueness, 187. The fusion of parts, 191. Size, 195. The misnamed tadpoles, 197. Translation into two dimensions, 199. Educational consequences, 203. The birth of form in sculpture, 208. Sticks and slabs, 209. The cube and the round, 215.
V. SPACE 218
Line and contour, 219. Contour rivalry, 223. Figure and ground, 227. Depth levels, 233. Application to painting, 234. Frames and windows, 239. Concavity in sculpture, 241. Why do we see depth? 245. Depth by overlapping, 248. Transparency, 253. Deformations create space, 258. Boxes in three dimensions, 261. Help from physi¬cal space, 269. Simple rather than truthful, 271. Gradients create depth, 275. Toward a convergence of space, 280. The two roots of central perspective, 283. Not a faithful projection, 285. Pyramidal space, 287. The symbolism of a focused world, 294. Centrality and infinity, 297. Playing with the rules, 298.
VI. LIGHT 303
The experience of light, 303. Relative brightness, 305. Illumination, 309. Light creates space, 311. Shadows, 315. Painting without light¬ing, 320. The symbolism of light, 324.
VII. COLOR 330
From light to color, 330. Shape and color, 332. How colors come about, 337. The generative primaries, 339. Addition and subtrac¬tion, 341. Generative complementaries, 342. A capricious medium, 344. The quest for harmony, 346. The elements of the scale, 350. Syntax of combinations, 353. The fundamental complementaries, 3'57- Interaction of color, 362. Matisse and El Greco, 364. Reactions to color, 368. Warm and cold, 369.
VIII. MOVEMENT 372
Happenings and time, 372. Simultaneity and sequence, 375. When do we see motion? 378. Direction, 382. The revelations of speed,
384. Stroboscopic movement, 387. Some problems of film editing, 392. Visible motor forces, 394. A scale of complexity, 398. The body as instrument, 403. The kinesthetic body image, 406.
IX. DYNAMICS 410
Simplicity is not enough, 410. Dynamics and its traditional inter¬pretations, 412. A diagram of forces, 416. Experiments on directed tension, 419. Immobile motion, 423. The dynamics of obliqueness, 424. Tension in deformation., 428. Dynamic composition, 432. Stroboscopic effects, 434. How does dynamics come about? 437. Examples from art, 440.
X. EXPRESSION 444
Traditional theories, 445. Expression embedded in structure, 449. The priority of expression, 454. Symbolism in art, 457.
NOTES 463
BIBLIOGRAPHY 487
INDEX 503
0520243838
741.601 / ARN