A defence of light: Ernst Gombrich, the Innocent Eye and seeing in perspective
Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: That ‘there is no innocent eye’ is one of the central propositions of Gombrich's Art and Illusion and a mantra that has played an immense role in art-historical and aesthetic scholarship for the past fifty years. It is also commonly thought to stand in a difficult relationship with Gombrich's rejection of the conventionalist understanding of human visuality. In this paper I examine this alleged contradiction in Gombrich's theoretical framework and argue that Gombrich managed to develop a consistent position that combined the view that there is no innocent eye with a non-conventionalist understanding of perspective. Criticisms that were directed against Gombrich need to be understood in the context of the collectivist historiographical commitments of his critics, which Gombrich strongly opposed.
Author: Mitrović, Branko
Language: English
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W3156112635