Art and Illusion

Art & Illusion is a ground-breaking and wide-ranging exploration of the history and psychology of pictorial representation. In light of present-day theories of visual perception information and learning, and searching for a rational explanation of the changing styles of art, author E H 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. The problems of representation are fundamental to the history of art, and Gombrich's triumph in Art & Illusion arises from the fact that his main concern is less with the artists than with us, the beholders, and how we interpret and understand art. Far from being a straightforward matter, Art & Illusion bridges the science and humanities to become one of the most influential books on art ever published.