The "Visual Arts" and the Problem of Art Historical Description
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5818185 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David Summers (0000-0002-8243-9521, corresponding author), David A Summers (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1982 |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 301-310 |
| Publication date | 1982-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Art Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0004-3249 • E-ISSN: 2325-5307 |
| Publisher | College Art Association (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1080/00043249.1982.10792815 |
| OpenAlex | W2010774984 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
In the introduction to Art and Illusion, E. H. Gombrich provides a brief history of the close relation he finds to exist between perceptual psychology and speculation on the history of artistic styles. Theories previous to the one he wishes to advance, he argues, were ultimately based on the reduction of visual perception to elements of sight and touch, on Bishop Berkeley's arguments that we see only color and that our apprehension of space is based on our association of visual "ideas" with movement and with the possibility and past experience of touch. This notion led, through nineteenth-century psychology, to the writings on art of Konrad Fiedler and Adolf von Hildebrand, finally to yield Bernard Berenson's "tactile values," Heinrich Wölfflin's linear-painterly polarity, and the haptic-optic polarity of Alois Riegl. Additional informationNotes on contributorsDavid SummersDavid Summers is Professor of Art, Center for Advanced Study, University of Virginia. This essay was adapted from a book manuscript currently in preparation
Apprehension · History of art · Sight · Viola · Architecture and Art History Studies · Art, Technology, and Culture · Philosophy, Science, and History
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1987 - 2026 (40) |
| Highly cited | No |