Psychology of art

Psychology of art presents the English translation of some papers published in Italian and papers published only in English pertaining to the Psychology of art or related to this subject.

Rudolf Arnheim (1997), Arte e cognizione. Introduzione alla psicologia dell’arte. By Alberto Argenton, The British Journal of Aesthetics, 37, 1, 87-88

Alberto Argenton, Giuseppe Basile (2003), Restoration and the psychology of art: an occasion to test out Cesare Brandi’s “Theory of Restoration”, in G. Basile (ed.), Restoration of Scrovegni Chapel. Surveys, project, results, Skira, Ginevra-Milano, 544-558.

Alberto Argenton (2004), Aesthetic cognition. A tribute to Rudolf Arnheim, Gestalt Theory, 2, 128-133.

Ian Verstegen (2010), Arte e espressione. Studi e ricerche di psicologia dell’arte. By Alberto Argenton, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 68, 2, 196-197

Alberto Argenton (2010), Convergences between conservation, restoration and psychology of art, in P. Iazurlo, F. Valentini (eds.) Conservation of contemporary art: Themes and issues. A didactic experience, Il Prato, Padova,  31-40.

Alberto Argenton (2012), The hand, touch and vision, in A. Pluchinotta (ed.), Just the hand in modern and contemporary plastic art, Exhibition Catalogue, Padova, Piano Nobile – Caffè Pedrocchi, 22 September – 14 October 2012, Bortolazzi-Stei, San Giovanni Lupatoto (VR), 44-50.

Additions made after 23rd May 2015

Alberto Argenton (2019), Art and Expression: Studies in the Psychology of Art, Edited by Ian Verstegen, Routledge, London.

Alberto Argenton (2015), Is Arnheim just a formalist?, Gestalt Theory, 37(3), 219-234.

Aesthetic cognition

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Alberto Argenton (2004), Aesthetic cognition. A tribute to Rudolf Arnheim, Gestalt Theory, 2, 128-133. Summary This paper was written with the ideal purpose of carrying on in the tradition of Rudolf ARNHEIM's seminal research and, more generally, in the tradition of Gestalt theory. It argues that the aesthetic criterion (the bipolar dimension of "beautiful/ugly"), through which we evaluate any object or event in the phenomenal world, is a species-specific criterion, which is based on perceptual functioning and orients, drives, and regulates cognition. The author advances this thesis as a contribution to the theme of the relationship between perception and thought, affirm­ing how important it is to study the artistic phenomenon if we are ever to grasp the functioning of the human mind in its entirety.  …
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The hand, touch and vision

The touch_resize
Alberto Argenton (2012), The hand, touch and vision, in A. Pluchinotta (ed.), Just the hand in modern and contemporary plastic art, Exhibition catalogue, Padova, Piano Nobile – Caffè Pedrocchi, 22 September – 14 October 2012, Bortolazzi-Stei, San Giovanni Lupatoto (VR), 44-50. The hand, together with the arm of which it is the extremity, is our principal executive organ. It is what characterizes us as homo faber and as the species homo sapiens sapiens, for it is with the hand that we have been and are able not only to modify, on the whole to our advantage, the environment in which we live, but also to create, construct, make a myriad of artifacts that constitute our cultural material. The hand seems to be one of the primary organs through which the body – and the mind – interact cognitively with the surrounding world and help shape and develop our knowledge of the world.…
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Additions made after 23rd May 2015