Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing - Softcover

Livingstone, Margaret S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810995549 ISBN 13: 9780810995543

Publisher: Abrams, 2008

Synopsis

Now in paperback, this groundbreaking study by Harvard neurobiologist Margaret Livingstone explores the inner workings of vision, demonstrating that how we see art depends ultimately on the cells in our eyes and our brains.

In Vision and Art, Livingstone explains how great painters fool the brain: why Mona Lisa’s smile seems so mysterious, Monet’s Poppy Field appears to sway in the breeze, Mondrian’s Broadway Boogie Woogie blinks like the lights of Times Square, and Warhol’s Electric Chair pulses with current.

Drawing on history and her own cutting- edge discoveries, Livingstone offers intriguing insights, from explanations of common optical illusions, to speculations on the correlation of learning disabilities with artistic skill. By skillfully bridging the space between science and art, Vision and Art will both arm artists and designers with new techniques that they can use in their own craft, and thrill any reader with an interest in the biology of human vision.

About this title

Review:

What is it that makes the work of Monet, van Gogh, da Vinci, and Warhol so visually arresting? How do our eyes and brains coordinate to perceive line and color?

Neurobiologist Margaret Livingstone addresses these and many other questions in Vision and Art, a lively look at the science underlying art. She writes accessibly, but with plenty of technical depth, on such matters as the nature of light and the visible spectrum, the organization of visual-image processing, the structure of the vertebrate eye and brain, and individual and culturally conditioned perceptions of color. Using well-known works of art as case studies, she offers fascinating bits of trivia (on, for instance, how pastels are made and why purple dyes are so rare) alongside practical information for artists (for example, how high-contrast contours and evenly distributed luminance attract the eye).

The result is a literate, lucid blend of art and science that will appeal to artists and connoisseurs alike. --Gregory McNamee

About the Author:

Margaret Livingstone is professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. She studies vision with a focus on how the eye and brain use color and luminance information, dyslexia and visual processing.

About this edition

• Publisher: Abrams
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0810995549
• ISBN 13: 9780810995543
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208