Customer Reviews

Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation

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In this now classic work, Gombrich uses his command of the history of art to reflect deeply on how creators and viewers of illusionistic, that is representational art, do what they do. While he wrote this in the 50's, and is deficient when it comes to issues of abstract art (which is really outside his stated purview) he comes close to what might now be termed a post-structuralist view of seeing, certainly an extremely careful and sophisticated one. Old-fashiioned as some of the language is, the book remains fresh and well worth reading or re-reading. The numerous and very well-chosen illustrations are unusually well coordinated in their placement, so that the reader rarely is forced to lose her place while thumbing back and forth in search of them.

When asked to recommend an art book, I frequently compare art books to chemistry books or math books. These books usually assume you understand, at the minimum, the symbol for salt or the math equation to measure an area. For this book, it would help if you are familiar with the main phases of representational styles in art. For this is not a picture book, but rather reading material with explanatory pictures on the psychology of perception.

But, Dr. Gombrich wrote for the general public and nobody does it better. Having read all his books more than once, he takes you by the hand, leads you down his primrose path, and entices you by way of his poetic language; much like walking in a garden with a gardener. You may not know all the plant's latin names, but the experience is rewarding.

Art & Illusion is an altogether brilliant text - one of the most profound discussions of fine art in the 20th century. No matter what one's field - whether painting, film, new media, performance art - it is a book both timeless and essential.

Great text, but in this printing the illustrations appear poorly printed (they are pale), especially noticeable when compared with those of an older edition. Perhaps the quality of illustrations is peculiar to my copy, but the reproductions seem consistently light.

The only thing that marred this (recent paperback version) of this book for me was the quality of some of the monochrome reproductions, which in the case of my copy were often almost to dark to even discern the subject matter. I notice that another reviewer complained about the pictures in his copy being too light, so it seems to have been a quality control issue.
That having been said, this is a scholarly and readable text, even humorous in places. The style is beginning to show age, but the writing is always clear, concise and comprehensible, and the book is truly INTERESTING, for anyone who cares about art. There is a wealth of well-selected illustrations, a few in colour (these were reproduced quite well). Just a pity that some of the B&W pictures were almost useless.

As someone with an interest in art I found this book very interesting.
However, this book is also a classic example of how a non-fiction book should be written. It flows smoothly from topic to topic, is not written on too high a level, but on the other hand does not insult your intelligence.
His other book are also very good.

There are some interesting ideas in here that gave me a fresh perspective on what art is - especially the difference between "making" an image and "mirroring" nature, and how the thinking around that distinction changed over time. It gave me a new way of looking at and appreciating works.

But the reason I bought this book is that I had read Gombrich's "Story of Art" and "Little History of the World" and assumed this would have his same simple, no nonsense style. Instead I found my eyes glazing over at long, vague, repetitive and trivial arguments. Maybe if I hadn't read his other books I wouldn't have been so disappointed with this one.

A great book, it is a bit long but filled with information, so take your time when reading and prepared yourselve for an epiphany

As usual, E.H. Gombrich makes art come alive! This is a stimulating volume on the link between art and illusion. Read it, and you won't be disappointed!

I spotted this book in a museum exhibit--it was related to the paintings being shown. Since the museum didn't have any copies in its bookstore, I ordered it here. If you're interested in related insights and learning to draw yourself, you should order Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and Drawing on the Artist Within, by Betty Edwards. Nina Keilin