Psychological aesthetics : painting, feeling, and making sense / David Maclagan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maclagan, David, 1940-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aesthetics--Psychological aspects.

Aesthetics.

Art therapy.

Physical Description:

157 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; Philadelphia : Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2001.

Summary:

This book is an introduction to the field of psychological aesthetics for art therapists, psychoanalysts, artists, and art lovers. It clarifies and re-directs the questions which are at the core of the nature of artistic appreciation and the creative process. It re-evaluates traditional philosophical and psychoanalytic approaches to aesthetics, arguing that they fail to take into account the complexity of the relationship between artist, art work, and audience.

Art therapy and psychoanalysis have tended mainly to focus on the artist's background in determining the psychological impact of art works. Maclagan stresses the significance of the complex material qualities of paintings, drawing on the ideas of archetypal psychology and post-structuralist theories on the relationship between inner and outer worlds.

Psychological Aesthetics: Painting, Feeling and Making Sense connects the theoretical worlds of philosophy, psychology, and psychoanalysis, and links them to the practice of looking, as well as with the process of artistic creation. It will inform and inspire the practice of art therapists and psychoanalysts.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 145-150) and indexes.

ISBN:

1853028347

OCLC:

42290305