Claude Monet and René Magritte: Thought Rendered Visible Per Aage Brandt 1, Mark Turner 2, Angelina Manieri 3 Claude Monet and René Magritte: Thought Rendered Visible Per Aage Brandt 1, Mark Turner 2, Angelina Manieri 3 Introduction Can art be understood in terms of cognitive processes? Can mental spaces account for meaning in painting ? Can art be understood in terms of cognitive processes? Can mental spaces account for meaning in painting ? Mental Spaces can blend and form compositions that create new conceptual and semiotic networks. Mental Spaces can blend and form compositions that create new conceptual and semiotic networks. Rene Magritte, The Explanation, 1952, private collection Claude Monet, Still Life with Flowers and Fruit, 1896, Getty Museum of Art Rene Magritte, The Explanation, 1952, private collection Claude Monet, Still Life with Flowers and Fruit, 1896, Getty Museum of Art Models Rene Magritte, Attempting the Impossible,1928,private collection Claude Monet, The Seine at Giverny, Morning Mists, 1897, North Carolina Art Museum Claude Monet, The Water-Lily Pond (The Clouds),1903, private collection Rene Magritte, Attempting the Impossible,1928,private collection Claude Monet, The Seine at Giverny, Morning Mists, 1897, North Carolina Art Museum Claude Monet, The Water-Lily Pond (The Clouds),1903, private collection Rene Magritte, Wonders of Nature, 1953, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise, 1872, Musée Marmottan, Paris Rene Magritte, Wonders of Nature, 1953, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Claude Monet, Impression, Sunrise, 1872, Musée Marmottan, Paris René Magritte, The Human Condition, 1944, Cleveland Museum of Art Claude Monet, The Red Kerchief: Portrait of Mrs. Monet, 1868 Claude Monet, Low Tide at Pourville, near Dieppe, 1882, Cleveland Museum of Art René Magritte, The Human Condition, 1944, Cleveland Museum of Art Claude Monet, The Red Kerchief: Portrait of Mrs. Monet, 1868 Claude Monet, Low Tide at Pourville, near Dieppe, 1882, Cleveland Museum of Art Conclusion These models show how visual art makes sense by blending contents and by signifying them through the iconic sign (the painting itself). These models show how visual art makes sense by blending contents and by signifying them through the iconic sign (the painting itself). Rene Magritte and Claude Monet both “attempt the impossible”---- painting air, light, or painting paradoxical ideas. Rene Magritte and Claude Monet both “attempt the impossible”---- painting air, light, or painting paradoxical ideas. Museum spaces often offer restricted exposure of the interplay with contexts such as the media (Magritte) and the open exteriors (Monet). Base spaces are therefore part of the descriptions of art. References: Brandt, Aage Per, Spaces, Domains, and Meaning Essays in Cognitive Semiotics, The Artful Mind : cognitive science and the riddle of human creativity, ed. Mark Turner, Oxford; New York, Acknowledgments: 1 Director of the Center of Cognition and Culture, Department Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University 2 Chair Department of Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University 3 Departments of Art History and Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University I would also like to thank the Cleveland Museum of Art, Case Western Reserve University, Cognitive Science and Art History Departments. Museum spaces often offer restricted exposure of the interplay with contexts such as the media (Magritte) and the open exteriors (Monet). Base spaces are therefore part of the descriptions of art. References: Brandt, Aage Per, Spaces, Domains, and Meaning Essays in Cognitive Semiotics, The Artful Mind : cognitive science and the riddle of human creativity, ed. Mark Turner, Oxford; New York, Acknowledgments: 1 Director of the Center of Cognition and Culture, Department Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University 2 Chair Department of Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University 3 Departments of Art History and Cognitive Science, Case Western Reserve University I would also like to thank the Cleveland Museum of Art, Case Western Reserve University, Cognitive Science and Art History Departments. Representation =Reality Reference SpaceBase Space Presentation Space Blended Space Observer Painting Painter & 2-D: Strokes Colors lines 3-D Motif Surfaces contours Strokes =motif… (seeing=touching) Reference SpaceBase Space PresentationSpace Blended Space Observer Painting Painter & 2-D: Strokes Colors lines 3-D Motif Surfaces contours Strokes =motif… (seeing=touching) Painter, canvas, unfinished female form Painter’s model and real woman in studio Unfinished model with painter Signifier= Signified Signifier is a Sign of Signified Reference SpaceBase Space PresentationSpace Blended Space Observer Painting Painter & 2-D Strokes Colors lines 3-D Motif Surfaces contours Strokes =motif… (seeing=touching) Reference SpaceBase Space PresentationSpace Blended Space Observer Painting Painter & 2-D Strokes Colors lines Interior=exterior Exterior=interior 3-D Motif Surfaces contours Strokes =motif… (seeing=touching) Figure = ground Cleveland Museum of Art Giverny Wing Cleveland Museum of Art Monet Exhibition Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris