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Ian Verstegen
Arnheim, Gestalt and Art
A Psychological Theory
SpringerWienNewYork
Ian Verstegen
The University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program
Cortona, Italy
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PREFACE
When one hears the words, the ‘psychology of art,’ one is likely to think
of the name of Rudolf Arnheim. Because of his great productivity we
have been fortunate to hear the latest words of wisdom from this remar-
kable nonegenarian, almost up to the present day. But while Arnheim the
personality is always intriguing, his system risks being left behind. Alt-
hough Arnheim has remained in remarkable contact with younger scho-
lars around the world, his ideas have risked alienation from their basic
gestalt basis. This book is a presentation of the whole unified Arnheim
through the lens of a living, breathing Gestalt psychology.
Arnheim’s two complementary works,
Art and Visual Percep-
tion
(1954/1974) and
The Power of the Center
(1982/1988) will surely
hold their own in visual art theory for some time to come. But Arnheim,
himself, never attempted to provide a general psychology of art. Nor, it
seems, did he presume he ought to. In fact, he once wrote that the book
by Hans and Shulamaith Kreitler “may well claim to have established
the psychology of arts as a discipline” (1973, p. 647). As much as that
may have been true then, it is much less true now. Arnheim has by now
written on every subject of the psychology of art and a general approach
may be said to exist, if not in one place. This work is an attempt to bring
into a single coherent statement this theory.
I began to discern in Arnheim’s a unified approach centered on
the idea of perceptual dynamics.
The Power of the Center
(1982/1988)
raised new problems of theoretical exposition, and suggested that its
compositional scheme was the key to this unified approach. Indeed, in
The Dynamics of Architectural Form
(1977) Arnheim suggested that “I
have come increasingly to believe that the dynamics of shape, color, and
movement is the decisive, although the least explored, factor of sensory
expession” (p. 7); this, only three years before the book on composition.
This suggested a central model based on ‘the dynamics of architecture,’
‘shape,’ etc.
It gave me the suspicion that
Art and Visual Perception
(1974)
could then be abstracted into such a form. This would then free the pre-
sentation of general principles (the chapters ‘Dynamics’ and ‘Expressi-
on’) and developmental aspects (the chapter ‘Growth), which could then
have their own separate presentation. I began describing my scheme to
Arnheim and he reacted with interest, and surprise. It “is like a dam
break in the hydraulic system of my work, which for most of my purpo-
ses is a system only because I look at items of my work one piece at a a
time, whereas you are presenting it as a whole” (Arnheim, 1992b). As I
v
asked about the holes that had appeared with the scheme I had commit-
ted myself to, Arnheim at the same time was busy elucidating what he
called the ‘keystones,’ the elementary ground concepts, of his theory that
had been left unstated. The result is what I like to believe to be two high-
ly complementary ventures.
This book began as the labor of an overambitious youngster, in-
spired by the gentle words of a retired sage-like figure in Ann Arbor,
Michigan. I am very grateful to Prof. Arnheim for the generosity he sho-
wed me then, and over the ensuing years, providing me with a priceless
experience of mentoring.
I brought an early draft of the book to maturity under the encou-
ragment of Tiziano Agostini, Howard Gruber, Kendall Walton and
Wolfgang Wildgen, as well as Alan Gilchrist and John Ceraso, the only
two teachers of psychology I have ever had. A good push to get restarted
was given by Lucia Pizzo Russo, Joseph Glicksohn, Michael Kubovy
and Walter Ehrenstein. I wish to thank them all but especially Tiziano
Agostini and Wolfgang Wildgen for their steadfast support over many
years. To my beloved wife Louise, who has cheerfully come to accept
the presence of Arnheim in our lives, I dedicate this book with thanks.
Cortona, Italy Ian Verstegen
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