Mastery

At the heart of Gombrich’s theory of art lies the notion of mastery. Gombrich’s ideas may be distinguished from many other theories in that he gives pride of place to quality in art, requiring a secure confidence in the possibility of evaluation. This recognition means that mastery and judgements on mastery are imbued with certain objectivity. A study of mastery also requires a reference to the context. The chapter sets out Gombrich’s ideas on art genres and forms. Finally, the very notion of artistic genre and form leads to an eminently appealing theme (which recurs, with different refinements, throughout this work): the expressivity of traditions, the way in which, with the passage of time, traditions —or rather, forms within traditions— attract expression and meaning. Tradition belongs not only to the artist, but also to the public which knows how to appreciate it. The ‘social compact’ and the tacit agreement between players and spectators in what is ‘taken for granted’, evokes the paradigm of Play.