Art and Artist: Creative Urge and Personality Development ((1989)) (Paperback)

~ Charles Francis Atkinson (Author), (Author) "Since I originally approached the art-problem from the psychological side, and wish now, too, to study it in relation to the development of personality, the..." (more)
Key Phrases: liver mantic, xsthetic pleasure, epic runes, Old Testament, New York, Modern Education (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"[Rank's thought] has implications for the deepest and broadest development of the social sciences . . . and of all [Rank's] books, Art and Artist is the most secure monument to his genius." —Ernest Becker Along with Adler and Jung, Otto Rank was one of the intellectual giants in the inner circle around Sigmund Freud. Art and Artist, his major statement on the relationship of art to the individual and society, pursues in a broader cultural context Freud's ideas on art and neurosis and has had an important influence on many twentieth-century writers and thinkers, beginning with Henry Miller and Anais Nin.

Art and Artist explores the human urge to create in all its complex aspects, in terms not only of individual works of art but of religion, mythology, and social institutions as well. Based firmly on Rank's knowledge of psychology and psychoanalysis, it ranges widely through anthropology and cultural history, reaching beyond psychology to a broad understanding of human nature.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co.; (1989) edition (September 17, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393305740
• ISBN-13: 978-0393305746
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,766 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rank's masterpiece, the culmination of his cultural analysis, August 24, 1998

By	Ejames LIEBERMAN (Potomac, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Beginning with a monograph in 1907 that first brought him to Freud's attention, Otto Rank became his mentor's closest colleague until 1926. The present work, published in 1932, follows three earlier elaborations of the first monograph, and covers artistic endeavor, language, play, architecture, etc. through the ages as an expression of a striving for individual/communal immortality and a reconciliation with mortality. The creative type lives life, affirming the inevitable, while the neurotic is frozen with life-fear. A fine translation reads well but Ludwig Lewisohn's terrific preface has been replaced here with one by the lighter-weight but better-known Anais Nin. The book rewards study; see an excerpt on the Otto Rank Website.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A man ahead his time, May 21, 2008

By	Wagner Da Matta Pereira - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Otto rank was one of the most prominent disciples of Freud. His influence permeates important writings of the master like "Totem and taboo", "Moses and the monotheism", for example. When we read Ranks works we are not only penetrating the world of psychoanalysis, we gain insight into anthropology, sociology, psychology and art, in many aspects; this is because Rank had knowledge in all these fields. Besides, he was extremely intelligent, so much so that Freud decides to finance his studies. In Art and artist we should see some of his ideas and realized why he went apart from the master, overcoming him in many aspects, as Ranks's opinions about humankind conflicts were beyond the psychoanalysis realm.

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars that angry?, May 2, 2008

By	Jared Jennings - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

i don't get how 2 people can have 5 star reviews and one so much lower, it seems more like an anger at the rating system "bringing the ratings down", just silly really, who are we to try to review writings this far past being written. our minds are so full of pop culture oatmeal it's a wonder we don't sit around drooling all day staring at walls. long live the works of otto rank.