the history of art as a contest
between seeing and knowing
Is seeing a straightforward activity?
Using the example of Egyptian art, that was made for special audience who knows how to read it, as ‘we cannot really know what this art looked like to the audience it was made for’ (Bagley 176). The process of seeing is directly connected to the object under consideration as well as the person who is performing it, that is why the activity is way more complex than it seems. The seeing of writing, which we often call «reading», is very distinct from the seeing of picture or art-piece. Bailey states that none of these processes are well understood by itself (195). Obviously, it is impossible to fully comprehend how Egyptians viewed their own creations, even in their time what an illiterate viewer would perceive as ordinary may appear to not be ordinary at all to a sophisticated literate viewer, because to a literate Egyptian the hieroglyphs, being a part of picture or not, were a writing that they could not help but read (Bagley 180-182).
How does Gombrich distinguish “painting what you know” from “painting what you see”?
Gombrich distinguishes “painting what you know” from “painting what you see” using the example of Egyptians as well: ‘the Egyptian artist draws what he knows, not what he sees’ (182). It is explained further as inability of Egyptians to draw realistically or «correctly» due to some technical conventions of their art or even psychological inability, they could not portray a man with only one hand or one leg visible due to the fact that they know it is not so. Bailey argues that it is a deeply incorrect statement simply due to other figures, that are represented in different kinds of poses, and the figure Gombrich talks about, that is ‘drawn from memory’ and represents the «painting what you know», is actually removed from the situation and from the image by his pose and presented as a sort of writing, a word — ‘something outside time’ (183).
We all make our own value judgments, what kind of judgments do you need to make or need to avoid in order to be a responsible art historian?
Works cited
Bagley, Robert W. Gombrich Among The Egyptians, And Other Essays In The History Of Art. Print.
