Gombrich: A Theory of Art

This is the first English translation of ‘Gombrich: una teoría del arte’, originally published in 1991. Ernst H. Gombrich himself considered Joaquín Lorda to be one of his most astute students. The book offers an extensive, expansive and holistic analysis of Gombrich's thinking and is unusual in presenting Gombrich as a theorist. While there has been extensive secondary literature on Gombrich, this is the first book to provide a systematic analysis of his ideas and theoretical frameworks, addressing the entirety of his writings. The publication provides a well-founded and valid reflection on the public framework of the artwork, subjective aspects such as its creation and expression, and the contemplation and interpretation of the work. The book is divided into three parts. The first provides four paradigms or a set of key ideas: the schema of science attributed to Popper; Freud’s theory of the joke; the theory of play, as conceived by Huizinga, and the notion of Rhetoric. The second part (on Western art) focuses on the idea of artistic progress and its consequences. The third part, which is the central core of this work, applies Gombrich’s ideas to art theory in general. This discussion uses a theory of knowledge and perception to define the function of art in culture. This book turns Gombrich’s ideas into a workable theory of art that can be used as an instrument for examining both the history of art and architecture and its current practice.