Maurice Merleau-Ponty writes: “The picture is a flat thing contriving to give us what we would see in the presence of ‘diversely contoured’ things by offering sufficient diacritical signs of the missing dimension, according to height and width. Depth is a third dimension derived from the other two.” 68
In Western art-historical theory, the discussion of the perspective of the viewer and artist in relation to the ideal point of view in front of the painting has been central. Already by the 15th century, Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472) states that the viewer needs to stand opposite to the vanishing point in the painting to see the motif correctly. 69 This means that the painting has to be hung at a perfect height in relation to the viewer, and that the viewer should correct his or her body, both vertically and horizontally, to find the right point of view.
To look at a painting is a physical experience that includes both our approach to the painting and our leaving of it. When I visit Nationalmuseum, I always aim to find Claude’s picture first, jogging up the famous steps to the second floor, and I head into the galleries with a definite idea of where I am going. I have to locate the picture, as it is often moved to different locations within the same part of the museum, and most of the time it is hung alongside two other paintings, Landscape with Huntsmen, Mountains and a Lake (undated) by Gaspard Dughet (1615-1675), and Bacchus-Apollo (1624) by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665). To look at a picture is never a direct experience, for a direct experience assumes that all motivations, aspects and associations would be erased from the act of seeing. Henri Lefebvre makes a connection between the experience of looking at a painting and a face or façade, saying that the face of the painting always meets the viewer with the same logic, “… the painting turns in the direction of anyone approaching it…”. Therefore the museum/gallery is a place like no other, in the sense that we move in this space in relation to this – most often unconscious – encounter.
;)
;)
68 Maurice Merleau-Ponty, “Eye and Mind”(from Primacy of Perception, pp. 159-190 in the 1964 translation), here printed in Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Basic Writings, edited by Thomas Baldwin, Routledge, London and New York, 2004, p. 304.
69 See Norman Bryson, Vision and Painting: The Logic of the Gaze, on the “Albertian Gaze”, pp. 102-131. See also Tony Phillips’ informative text on Sony Brook State University of New York’s website: “One-point perspective is the most common systematic method for representing space on a surface. The idea is that the picture in its frame should give the illusion of being a window through which the immobile eye of the observer looks at an outside 3-dimensional world. (Alberti speaks of the canvas as `an open window through which I see what I want to paint’.) Each spot visible through the window gives a spot in the picture, located at the intersection with the picture plane of the straight line joining it to the eye.” www.math.sunysb.edu/~tony/what...
Åsberg, Stig
Page: 20(a.)
after-image
Page: 5, 5(a.), 26, 32, 34, 40, 48, 49, 55, 56
Akerman, Chantal
Page: 3, 3(a.), 57(a.)
Alberti, Leon Battista
Page: 27
Angelo Giorgio, Cardinal
Page: 19, 19(a.)
Armitage, John
Page: 51(a.)
Art Institute of Chicago
Page: 32
Arvidsson, Kristoffer
Page: 35(a.)
Ashburton, Lord
Page: 19(a.)
Bätschmann, Oskar
Page: 33(a.)
Bal, Mieke
Page: 8(a.)
Barton, Judy (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30
Baudelaire, Charles
Page: 44
beat, the
Page: 44
Beckett, Samuel
Page: 39
Bellini, workshop of Giovanni
Page: 28
Bierstadt, Albert
Page: 17
Bjurström, Per
Page: 19, 19(a.), 33, 57, 57(a.)
Blaugrund, Annette
Page: 17(a.)
Bonaparte, Lucien
Page: 19(a.), 41(a.)
Bosch, Hieronymous
Page: 40
Brealey, John
Page: 19, 19(a.)
British Museum, London
Page: 22, 22(a.)
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
Page: 45
Bryson, Norman
Page: 2, 2(a.), 8, 8(a.), 27(a.), 44(a.)
Butler, Judith
Page: 48, 48(a.), 49
Calaresu, Melissa
Page: 9(a.)
Calefato, Patrizia
Page: 43, 43(a.)
Cavalli-Björkman, Görel
Page: 19(a.)
Cederström, Gustaf
Page: 46, 46(a.)
Certeau, Michel de
Page: 53
Cézanne, Paul
Page: 39
Church, Fredric Edwin
Page: 17, 17(a.)
Claude Glasses
Page: 5, 12, 18, 51, 54
Claude Lorrain Mirror
Page: 10
Claude Mirror
Page: 5, 10, 11, 18
Claudian
Page: 11, 14, 14(a.), 15, 17, 41, 41(a.), 53, 56
Claudian gaze
Page: 17
Claudian light
Page: 14
Claudian model
Page: 14, 14(a.), 15, 41(a.)
Cohen, Ernst
Page: 8(a.)
Constable, John
Page: 25(a.), 41(a.)
copy
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 5(a.), 20, 22, 25, 26, 30(a.), 31, 32, 32(a.), 34, 38, 40, 41, 41(a.), 42, 42(a.), 44, 48, 51, 55, 57
copying, act of -
Page: 31, 51
copyist
Page: 26, 32, 34, 40, 41, 42, 44
Courbet, Gustave
Page: 34(a.)
Crary, Jonathan
Page: 13, 13(a.)
cruising
Page: 8, 35, 35(a.), 44, 44(a.), 49
Dahlbäck, Bengt
Page: 20(a.)
Degas, Edgar
Page: 44
Dercon, Chris
Page: 51(a.)
Düsseldorf School
Page: 15
Dughet, Gaspard
Page: 27
Dunwell, Frances F.
Page: 16(a.), 17(a.)
El Greco
Page: 2
Elster, Madeleine (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30, 31, 34, 38, 44
Fabiani, Bardo
Page: 43(a.)
Fahlcrantz, Carl Johan
Page: 14, 15
Ferguson, John "Scottie" (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30, 31
Ferrier, Maïten de
Page: 32
Field, Cyrus
Page: 17(a.)
framing
Page: 7, 33, 35, 51, 54
Fraser, Andrea
Page: 40(a.)
Fredlund, Björn
Page: 8(a.), 19(a.)
Fried, Michael
Page: 28(a.)
Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Gothenburg
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.), 46, 46(a.)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Page: 24
Gallerie Brunner, Paris
Page: 19(a.)
Gardner, Jack
Page: 29(a.)
gay
Page: 8, 35, 35(a.), 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 48(a.)
gaze
Page: 4, 5(a.), 8, 9, 13, 17, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27(a.), 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 42, 44, 44(a.), 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 54
gender
Page: 30, 43, 48(a.), 49
Georgel, Chantal
Page: 24(a.)
Gilpin, William
Page: 9, 9(a.), 12, 12(a.), 16, 16(a.)
Giori, Cardinale
Page: 22
Goldfarb, Hilliard T.
Page: 28(a.), 29(a.)
Gombrich, Ernst Hans
Page: 25(a.), 48(a.)
Gordon, Douglas
Page: 30(a.)
Grünewald, Matthias
Page: 2
Grammel, Sören
Page: 30(a.)
Granath, Olle
Page: 4(a.)
Grand Tour
Page: 9, 14, 32, 35(a.)
Grate, Pontus
Page: 37(a.), 41(a.)
Gray Mirror
Page: 10
Great Chain Overlook, The
Page: 5
grid
Page: 24, 25, 25(a.), 26, 37, 38, 44, 46, 47, 49
Guerrilla Girls
Page: 40(a.)
Gustaf Adolf VI of Sweden, King
Page: 18
Hansen, Constantin
Page: 8(a.)
Harriss, Joseph A.
Page: 32(a.), 40(a.)
Hedén, Karl-Gustaf
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.)
Herrmann, Bernard
Page: 30(a.)
Hidaka, Ritsuko
Page: 24, 24(a.)
history
Page: 1, 7, 15, 18, 19, 20(a.), 21, 24, 26,32(a.), 35, 41(a.), 44, 46, 47, 48, 55, 56
Hitchcock, Alfred
Page: 30
Hockney, David
Page: 11(a.)
Holger, Lena
Page: 46(a.)
horizon
Page: 25, 27, 35, 38(a.), 41, 52, 53, 54, 56
Hudson River Highlands
Page: 16, 16(a.), 17(a.)
Hudson River School
Page: 17, 17(a.)
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Page: 28, 29(a.)
Isakson, Karl
Page: 39
Kennedy, Randy
Page: 45(a.)
Kitson, Michael
Page: 22(a.)
Købke, Christian
Page: 8(a.)
Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia, Grand Duke
Page: 46, 46(a.)
Kopp, Céline
Page: 42(a.)
Krauss, Rosalind
Page: 25, 25(a.)
Kulick, Don
Page: 44, 44(a.), 49
Kunstverein München, Munich
Page: 30(a.)
landscape, Arcadian -
Page: 9, 35
landscape, cultivated -
Page: 16
landscape, designed -
Page: 10
landscape, Dutch -
Page: 10
landscape, lost -
Page: 16
landscape, national -
Page: 9, 14, 15
landscape, Nordic -
Page: 15
landscape, pastoral -
Page: 21, 34, 35
landscape,pictorial
Page: 14
landscape, Roman -
Page: 11
landscape, Romantic -
Page: 52
landscape, Swedish -
Page: 14, 15
landscape painter
Page: 5, 14, 17, 19(a.)
landscape painting
Page: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 11(a.), 14, 15, 53
Landscapes, Ideal -
Page: 9, 9(a.), 22(a.), 33(a.), 35, 40, 41(a.)
Landscapes, Imperial -
Page: 14, 14(a.)
Langdon, Helen
Page: 11(a.), 33, 33(a.), 57(a.)
Lawler, Louise
Page: 40(a.)
Lefebvre, Henri
Page: 27
Lenbach, Franz von
Page: 30(a.)
Liber Veritatis
Page: 21, 22, 22(a.)
linguistic matrix
Page: 25
Lorrain, Claude
Page: 2, 4, 4(a.), 5, 8, 8(a.), 9, 10, 11, 11(a.), 12, 12(a.), 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 18(a.), 19, 19(a.), 20, 21, 21(a.), 22, 22(a.), 23, 25, 25(a.), 26, 27, 28, 33, 33(a.), 34, 34(a.), 35, 36, 36(a.), 38, 38(a.), 41, 41(a.), 42(a.), 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 57(a.)
Louvre, Paris
Page: 24, 32, 32(a.), 40, 44, 44(a.)
Lyberg, Louise
Page: 32(a.)
Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Stockholm
Page: 35(a.)
Maillet, Arnaud
Page: 12(a.)
Malsch, Friedemann
Page: 28(a.)
Manson & Woods, London
Page: 8(a.)
Martin, Elias
Page: 14, 14(a.)
Matisse, Henri
Page: 39
memory
Page: 7, 11, 17(a.), 20, 30(a.), 31, 35(a.), 41, 41(a.), 43, 51
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice
Page: 24, 24(a.), 27, 27(a.), 39, 39(a.), 55, 55(a.)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Page: 17(a.), 24
Metz, Philip
Page: 30(a.)
mimicry
Page: 5, 6, 34, 40, 47, 49, 51
Mitchell, W.J.T.
Page: 11(a.), 14, 14(a.), 28(a.), 38(a.), 48(a.)
Moderna Museet, Stockholm
Page: 20, 40(a.)
Molvidson, Martin
Page: 46(a.)
Mulvey, Laura
Page: 30, 30(a.), 31
Musée Fesch, Ajaccio, Corsica
Page: 41, 41(a.)
museum
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 8,18, 19, 20, 20(a.), 23, 24, 24(a.), 25,26, 27, 28,29, 29(a.), 30, 30(a.), 31, 32, 32(a.), 33, 34, 36,38, 40, 40(a.),42, 42(a.), 43, 44, 44(a.), 45, 46, 46(a.), 47,49, 50, 51
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Page: 45, 45(a.)
National Gallery, London
Page: 24, 41(a.)
Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Page: 4, 4(a.), 5, 8(a.), 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 20(a.), 24, 27, 32, 32(a.), 37, 38, 41(a.), 46, 47, 48(a.), 55, 57(a.)
nature
Page: 7, 9, 12, 13, 17, 18, 24, 33, 34, 39, 43, 47, 48, 51, 57
Newman, Michael
Page: 51, 51(a.), 52, 52(a.)
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans
Page: 8
Nilsson, Håkan
Page: 48, 48(a.)
Nordic Light
Page: 15
Nordqvist, Per
Page: 14
Novak, Kim (actor in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 30
original
Page: 4(a.), 5, 5(a.), 8, 14, 18(a.), 19(a.), 20, 22, 25, 25(a.), 26, 29(a.), 32, 33, 34, 39, 40, 41, 41(a.), 42, 46, 46(a.), 47, 48, 48(a.), 49
painting, historical -
Page: 6, 24, 30, 35, 41(a.)
painting, landscape
Page: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 11, 11(a.), 14, 15, 53
painting, lost -
Page: 26
painting, process of -
Page: 39, 57
Palazzo Riccardi, Florence
Page: 19(a.)
Pehrson, Mathias
Page: 18(a.)
perspective
Page: 11, 18, 27, 27(a.), 33, 44
Persson, Helena
Page: 8(a.)
Petterson, Åke
Page: 18(a.)
Phelan, Peggy
Page: 5, 39, 39(a.)
Phillips, Tony
Page: 27(a.)
pictures journey
Page: 8
Picturesque
Page: 5, 9, 9(a.), 10, 10(a.), 11, 11(a.), 12, 12(a.), 14, 16, 17, 18
Pollock, Jackson
Page: 48(a.)
Pordenone, Bernardino Licinio da
Page: 28(a.)
Poussin, Nicolas
Page: 9, 27, 33, 33(a.), 40(a.), 41(a.)
Prado Museum, Madrid
Page: 41(a.), 53
Röthlisberger, Marcel
Page: 8(a.), 19, 19(a.), 21, 21(a.), 22(a.), 34(a.), 35, 35(a.), 36, 36(a.), 37, 38(a.), 41, 41(a.), 42, 42(a.)
Rørbye, Martinus
Page: 8(a.)
Raphael
Page: 36
Rebekah
Page: 4(a.), 5, 15, 16, 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 25(a.), 26, 28, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 37(a.), 38, 40, 41, 42, 47, 55, 57
recognition
Page: 2, 8, 28, 38, 39, 40
Rembrandt van Rijn
Page: 19(a.)
restorer
Page: 18, 19, 19(a.), 20, 21
Rossholm Lagerlöf, Margaretha
Page: 9(a.), 22(a.), 33, 33(a.), 34, 34(a.), 41(a.)
Rubens, Peter Paul
Page: 41(a.)
Sandberg, Ragnar
Page: 39, 39(a.)
Sandrart, Joachim von
Page: 36, 57
Sarto, Andrea del
Page: 30(a.)
See and Seen
Page: 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, 29(a.), 44, 47, 49, 50, 54
seeing, act of -
Page: 27, 43, 49, 54
seeing, moment of
Page: 21, 48, 54
seeing, process of -
Page: 5, 26
seeing, way of -
Page: 7, 9, 14, 18, 39, 51
shepherd
Page: 4(a.), 19(a.), 22, 33, 35, 42
Shiner, Larry
Page: 40(a.)
spectator
Page: 11, 11(a.), 13, 29, 29(a.), 30, 33, 38(a.), 41, 43, 44, 50, 53
Stewart, James (actor in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock))
Page: 30
Stewart Gardner, Isabella
Page: 28, 29, 29(a.), 49
Storrie, Calum
Page: 44, 44(a.)
tourist
Page: 5, 7, 9, 9(a.), 10, 13, 18, 54
translate
Page: 2(a.), 11, 19(a.), 26, 39, 46
translation
Page: 1, 18(a.), 19(a.), 27(a.), 39(a.), 55(a.), 57(a.)
Turner, J.M.W.
Page: 11
US Military Academy at West Point, New York State
Page: 5, 16, 17, 18, 54
vanishing point
Page: 11, 27, 51, 52
Vertigo
Page: 30, 30(a.), 31, 38, 44
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Page: 43
viewer
Page: 2, 4, 5, 7, 13, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 24(a.), 26, 27, 28, 29, 29(a.), 30, 33, 34, 38, 40, 41(a.), 43, 44, 45, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54
viewing, act of -
Page: 13
viewing, conditions of -
Page: 44
viewing, modes of -
Page: 13
viewing aids / instruments
Page: 10, 13, 48
Warner, Deborah Jean
Page: 10, 10(a.), 12, 12(a.)
Williams, Raymond
Page: 7, 7(a.), 10, 10(a.)
Wittgenstein
Page: 48(a.)
Wood, Marjorie 'Midge' (character in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock)
Page: 31