Visual Thinking: Thirty-Fifth Anniversary Printing [Deluxe Edition] [Paperback]

Rudolf Arnheim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 16, 2004

For thirty-five years Visual Thinking has been the gold standard for art educators, psychologists, and general readers alike. In this seminal work, Arnheim, author of The Dynamics of Architectural Form, Film as Art, Toward a Psychology of Art, and Art and Visual Perception, asserts that all thinking (not just thinking related to art) is basically perceptual in nature, and that the ancient dichotomy between seeing and thinking, between perceiving and reasoning, is false and misleading. An indis-pensable tool for students and for those interested in the arts.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"Groundbreaking when first published in 1969, this book is now of even greater relevance to make the reader aware of the need to educate the visual sense, a matter so harmfully neglected in the present system."--Peter Selz, author of Nathan Oliveira

"Freud argued that a cogent thought process, to say nothing of conscious intellectual work, could not exist amidst the unruliness of visual experience. Over the last half century in a sequence of landmark books, Rudolf Arnheim has not only shown us how wrong that is, he has parsed the grammar of form with uncanny acuity and taught us how to read it. Few books continue to speak to the generations after them; Visual Thinking is one of those rare exceptions."--Jonathan Fineberg, author of Art Since 1940

From the Back Cover

"Groundbreaking when first published in 1969, this book is now of even greater relevance to make the reader aware of the need to educate the visual sense, a matter so harmfully neglected in the present system."-Peter Selz, author of Nathan Oliveira "Freud argued that a cogent thought process, to say nothing of conscious intellectual work, could not exist amidst the unruliness of visual experience. Over the last half century in a sequence of landmark books, Rudolf Arnheim has not only shown us how wrong that is, he has parsed the grammar of form with uncanny acuity and taught us how to read it. Few books continue to speak to the generations after them; Visual Thinking is one of those rare exceptions."-Jonathan Fineberg, author of Art Since 1940

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (April 16, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520242262
• ISBN-13: 978-0520242265
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #245,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book you want to have at home, March 18, 2005

By 

Mariya "M.P." - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Visual Thinking (Paperback)

The above phrase is the conclusion I came to after reading this book at the library. I am not in art education, but there are many things I wanted to underline and think about in application to the theory of creativity, use of technology in education, visual literacy. I think different people would find different things to think about in this book. Arnheim wrote a masterpiece that catalyzed a paradigm shift in his area (just like Freud or Simon & Newell).
The book is written pretty clear, I would not say it is difficult to read (English is my third language).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Observation on the Psychology of Art & Visual Appreciation, January 19, 2010

By 

Generally Booked (WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visual Thinking (Paperback)

Instead of going on & on about the wealth of useful information in this book, I will say this:
There is reason 100 different books cite this book - this book contains art psychology research relavent to a wide variety of fields. More importantly, this information is as relevant to life today as the day it was written. Thought-provoking perspective of creativity.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars verbiage somewhat complex, November 21, 2010

By 

MO "mm" (Eastern Seaboard) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Visual Thinking: Thirty-Fifth Anniversary Printing (Paperback)

I had the good fortune to hear Dr. Arnheim lecturing; his lecture style was simpler, and easier to understand. German does not translate well into English, word for word, one must take the spirit, and distill it. The writing is a bit thick, in this book, which is why there are only 4 stars, not 5. Some books are worth slogging through, however, and this one is. Thick as the language may be, it is still quite seminal. I do wish the author had read and applied lessons from Art of Readable Writing, written by a contemporary. Then again, Harry Potter books could stand to be better edited, but it doesn't matter, people flock to read the books, because they like what is communicated.