Closing reflections on mimeticism: Gombrich, Wilde,

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Closing reflections on mimeticism Gombrich,
Wilde, Lyas

• I place no value upon literal transcripts from
  Nature. My general scope is not realistic all
  my tendencies are toward idealization. . . .
  Topography in art is valueless. - Thomas Moran
  (b. England 1837-d. United States 1926), 1879

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Closing reflections on mimeticism Gombrich,
Wilde, Lyas

• Selection from E.H. Gombrich, Art and Illusion A
  Study of the Psychology of Pictorial
  Representation (NY Pantheon Books, 1960).
• 1. The problem which Gombrich poses
• If imitation is the goal of art, then it would
  seem that at some point images would become
  perfect representational art would no longer
  change.

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Closing reflections on mimeticism Gombrich,
Wilde, Lyas

• But as a matter of fact, the history of Western
  art is a history of changing styles. Why has
  representative art a history? (525)
• Why have different ages different cultures
  represented the visible world in such different
  ways?

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Closing reflections on mimeticism Gombrich,
Wilde, Lyas

• 2. Limits on the imitation of nature
• An anecdote from the autobiography of Ludwig
  Richter
• Why the differences between the German French
  students?

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Closing reflections on mimeticism Gombrich,
Wilde, Lyas

• One factor - different temperaments
• Another factor - different tools mediums
• Principal factor - different schema
• My suggested df. of schema learned mental
  patterns which are projected on nature

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Closing reflections on mimeticism Gombrich,
Wilde, Lyas

• Illustration of thesis
• A view of the Castel Sant Angelo in Rome by a
  16th century Italian a 16th century German
  printmaker

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Closing reflections on mimeticism Gombrich,
Wilde, Lyas

• Gombrichs main thesis representation in art is
  a process of matching mental schema with objects
  in nature (the motif).
• The artist begins with a schema, not a visual
  impression
• Schema are not the product of a process of
  abstraction
• For new visual impressions, the fit may initially
  be rough

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Closing reflections on mimeticism Gombrich,
Wilde, Lyas

• Schema are adjusted. There is a rhythm of
  schema and correction (109).
• But the fit is never perfect.
• There is no neutral naturalism (521).
• Another illustration
• An anonymous English drawing of Derwentwater
  Mr. Chiang Yees drawing of the same scene

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Closing reflections on mimeticism Gombrich,
Wilde, Lyas

• Conclusion This explains why the mimetic
  tradition in art has a history.
• Cf. this to the naïve view of artistic
  representation, that the artist looks at things
  then attempts to reproduce them.
• Does Gombrichs position suggest that
  representational art will continue indefinitely?
  Cf. Danto
• To Wilde file