The Hidden Order of Art

The Hidden Order Art - Anton Ehrenzweig's tour de force describes nothing less than the psychology of artistic creativity. Focusing on the visual arts and music, he shows that, in addition to conscious, intellectual critical powers, both the child and the creative artist rely on an unconscious, intuitive critical process or 'scanning' to give shape to their view of the world. The author also explores personality characteristics and psychological states - manic and depressive - and relates them to an underlying coherence in apparently chaotic art forms. He also shows the theme of the 'dying god' underlies much of the greatest art of all ages. A groundbreaking work, The Hidden Order of Art creates a fusion of aesthetics and clinical psychology, providing a challenging insight into workings of the creative process.'This is one of the most intelligent books ever written about the psychology of artistic creativity, and it is as relevant in the present situation of psychology as it is to the present situation of art... I know of no other book which so much conduces to a reasoned optimism about the future of art and, indirectly, about the future of human affairs' (John Russell, Sunday Times).