Recommended readings

For more detailed background information on the workings of the human eye and brain, and how they relate to perception, refer to Mather (2014a) and Mather (2016).

Marmor and Ravin (2009) discuss the artistic impact of many medical conditions that affect the eyes.

A classic research article by Ittelson (1951) reports a rare experimental study of the effect of angular size on perceived object distance.

Pirenne (1952) describes his particular view of linear perspective, and includes the quote from Panofsky given in the text. Kemp (1990) gives a detailed account of the history of linear perspective in art.

David Hockney's copiously illustrated book argues that artists throughout history have used optical projections as aids to create realistic depictions of depth. Research and debate about the psychological and artistic impact of projection systems can be read in Vishwanath et al. (2005), Pepperell and Haertel (2014), and Rogers and Naumenko (2016).

Elias and Cotte (2008) present a detailed forensic analysis of Leonardo's sfumato technique for creating naturalistic depictions of surfaces and edges in oil paint. Sayim and Cavanagh (2011) offer a neuroscientific perspective on line drawings.

Accounts of influential scientific theories of object perception can be found in Marr and Nishihara (1978), Biederman (1987), Ullman (1989) and Hummel (2013).

An introduction to the mathematics of fractal patterns can be watched here. A brief review by the inventor of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot, can be found in Mandelbrot (1967).

A discussion of fractals and other mathematical theories that have been applied to art can be found in Mather (2014b). More technical reports can be read in Taylor et al. (1999), Parraga et al. (2000), Graham and Redies (2010), and Mather (2018).

The numerous artists who contributed to the birth of the Modernist art movement are summarised here.

Chipp (1968) is a valuable source of first-hand accounts of the ideas and theories that drove these artists in the twentieth century.


Additional material

New material will appear here as I find it.