The Story of Art--Introduction (Gombrich)

The Story of Art by E. H. Gombrich (July 11, 2011)   A. Some Quotes for Consideration (after filling in each blank)   1. (p. 15) There really is no such thing as [    ]. There are only artists. Once these were men who took colored earth and roughed out the forms of a bison on the wall of a cave; today some buy their paints, and design posters for hoardings; they did and do many things. There is no harm in calling all these activities art as long as we keep in mind that such a word may mean very different times and places, and as long as we realize that Art with a capital A has no existence.   2. (p. 17) Albrecht Durer's Portrait of his mother (1514) (figure 2): His careworn old age may give us a shock which makes us turn away from it―and yet, if we fight against our first repugnance we may be richly rewarded, for Durer's drawing in its tremendous [    ] is a great work.   3. (p. 24) Albrecht Durer's Hare (1502) (figure 9): What they like best are paintings which 'look real.' ... this is an important consideration. The patience and skill which go into the faithful rendering of the visible world are indeed to be admired. Great artists of the past have devoted much labor to works in which every tiny detail is carefully recorded. Durer' watercolor study of a hare is one of the most famous examples of this loving patience. ..... (p. 26) But in drawing a cockerel, figure 12, Picasso was not content with giving a mere rendering of the bird's appearance. He wanted to bring out its aggressiveness, its cheek and its stupidity. In other words, he resorted to [    ]. But what a convincing caricature it is!   4. (p. 27) We are all inclined to be quick with the verdict that 'things do not look like that.' We have a curious habit of thinking that nature must always look like the pictures we are accustomed to. .... Not one of these people seems to have noticed what it 'really looks [    ]' what a horse runs. Pictures and sporting prints usually showed them with outstretched legs in full flight through the air―as figure 13 by Theodore Gericault. However, compare it to figure 14, the photos of the galloping horses.   5. (p. 29) There is no greater [    ] to the enjoyment of great works of art than our unwillingness to discard habits and prejudices. A painting which represents a familiar subject in an unexpected way is often condemned of no better reason than that it does not seem right. .... An Itanlian painter Caravaggio painted a picture of St. Matthew (figure 15), but the picture was not accepted because of a lack of respect for the saint. And he had to paint the saint again to figure 16, which is less honest and sincere than the first..   6. (p. 34) Raphael's Madonnas: the "Virgin in the meadow" (figure 17). It is beautiful and engaging; the figures are admirably drawn, and the expression‎ of the Holy Virgin as she looks down on the two children is quite unforgettable. .... Everything in the picture seems in its proper place, and the pose and harmony Raphael has achieved by his hard work seem so natural and effortless that we hardly notice them. Yet it is just this [    ] which makes the beauty of the Madonna more beautiful and the sweetness of the children more sweet.   7. (p. 36) One never finishes learning about art. There are always new things to discover. Great works of art seem to look different every time one stands before them. They seem to be as inexhaustible and unpredictable as real human beings. It is an exciting world of its own with its own strange laws and its own adventures. Nobody should think he knows all about it, for nobody does. Nothing, perhaps, is more important than just this: that to enjoy these works we must have a [    ] mind, one which is ready to catch every hint and to respond to every hidden harmony: a mind, most of all, not cluttered up with long high-sounding words and ready-made phrases.