The Objective Eye: Color, Form, and Reality in the Theory of Art“The longer you work, the more the mystery deepens of what appearance is, or how what is called appearance can be made in another medium."—Francis Bacon, painter This, in a nutshell, is the central problem in the theory of art. It has fascinated philosophers from Plato to Wittgenstein. And it fascinates artists and art historians, who have always drawn extensively on philosophical ideas about language and representation, and on ideas about vision and the visible world that have deep philosophical roots. John Hyman’s The Objective Eye is a radical treatment of this problem, deeply informed by the history of philosophy and science, but entirely fresh. The questions tackled here are fundamental ones: Is our experience of color an illusion? How does the metaphysical status of colors differ from that of shapes? What is the difference between a picture and a written text? Why are some pictures said to be more realistic than others? Is it because they are especially truthful or, on the contrary, because they deceive the eye? The Objective Eye explores the fundamental concepts we use constantly in our most innocent thoughts and conversations about art, as well as in the most sophisticated art theory. The book progresses from pure philosophy to applied philosophy and ranges from the metaphysics of color to Renaissance perspective, from anatomy in ancient Greece to impressionism in nineteenth-century France. Philosophers, art historians, and students of the arts will find The Objective Eye challenging and absorbing. |
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The Objective Eye: Color, Form, and Reality in the Theory of Art John Hyman No preview available - 2006 |
The Objective Eye: Color, Form, and Reality in the Theory of Art John Hyman No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
Albrecht Dürer anamorphosis anthropocentric appearance argues argument artist B.C. Attributed basic beauty Berlin Painter bodies Cambridge chapter claim color concepts conventions Cratylus define Descartes Descartes’s describe doctrine E. H. Gombrich effect example exist experience explain fact form and color frame of reference geometrical Gombrich Goodman gross color Hence idea illusion imply inky marks J. J. Gibson kind of object Kylix Languages of Art light line of sight London looks marks means mind nature object’s color objects they depict observers occlusion shape occlusion shape principle optical Pablo Picasso Painter painting Panofsky perception perspective philosophers phrase physical objects pictorial art picture represents picture's surface Plato postulated predicate produce properties qualities question realism reason representation resemblance theory retinal image sensations sense shading special relativity spectator spectator's subjectivism symbols theory of depiction things tion trompe l’oeil true visible objects visual visual perception Wollheim words