Closing reflections on mimeticism - slide 1 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

Closing reflections on mimeticism - slide 2 Closing reflections on mimeticism: Gombrich, Wilde, & Lyas 4 Selection from E.H. Gombrich, Art and Illusion: A Study of the Psychology of Pictorial Representation (NY: Pantheon Books, 1960) 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.

Closing reflections on mimeticism - slide 3 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?

Closing reflections on mimeticism - slide 4 Closing reflections on mimeticism: Gombrich, Wilde, & Lyas 4 2. Limits on the imitation of nature –An anecdote from the autobiography of Ludwig Richter Why the differences between the German & French students?

Closing reflections on mimeticism - slide 5 Closing reflections on mimeticism: Gombrich, Wilde, & Lyas åOne factor - different temperaments åAnother factor - different tools & mediums åPrincipal factor - different schema »My suggested df. of schema: learned mental patterns which are projected on nature

Closing reflections on mimeticism - slide 6 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 printmakerCastel Sant’ Angelo

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Closing reflections on mimeticism - slide 8 Closing reflections on mimeticism: Gombrich, Wilde, & Lyas –Gombrich’s 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

Closing reflections on mimeticism - slide 9 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). åAnother illustration »An anonymous English drawing of Derwentwater & Mr. Chiang Yee’s drawing of the same sceneEnglish drawing of DerwentwaterMr. Chiang Yee’s drawing

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Closing reflections on mimeticism - slide 12 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 Gombrich’s position suggest that representational art will continue indefinitely? Cf. Danto åTo Wilde fileTo Wilde file