GOMBRICH, E. H.
Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington
The Image and the Eye. First edition, first impression, presentation copy, inscribed on the title page to a leader of the "kitchen sink realism" school of art, "For John Bratby, from E. H. Gombrich. Dec. 1982". Bratby has made a number of underlinings in ink, marked out pages with paper tabs, and provided commentary on the section on physiognomy on page 109.Bratby's (1928-1992) realist style complements Gombrich's (1909-2001) biological approach to art and psychology. In the chapter "Mask and the Face", Gombrich uses portraits of Bertrand Russell at ages 4 and 90 to discuss the observer's desire to perceive the philosopher in the child and the child in the philosopher. Moving onto genetic inheritance, Gombrich argues that families may disagree on whether two members look alike due to differences in their perceptual categories. Bratby, at that time expanding on his prolific portfolio of portraits, responds in the margins, "People do not know what they look like but can see the likeness of relatives in their portrait"; and "Oral communication establishes a link between painters"; and "Aristotelian: his Substance. Subject which somehow makes the portrait fuller" (p. 109).Gombrich's legacy lies in his contribution to "the understanding of the psychology of perception involved in the making of and response to art, using concepts that later became bywords, such as 'schema and correction', 'the eyewitness principle', 'the beholder's share', and 'the ecology of the image'... Unlike m
Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.