Picasso S Brain

Where does creativity come from? Why are some people more creative than others? Eminent neuropsychologist Christine Temple navigates a wide range of factors from the hard science (visual memory, spatial ability, brain functions) to the environmental (the 'mad genius' myth, and Gladwell's 10,000 hours of practice) in her study of what contributes to creativity. Using Pablo Picasso as her model of a creative genius, she weighs up each theory as it applies to Picasso and shows how his own creativity came from a combination of many factors. In this book, she looks at Picasso's playful mindset and passionate relationships, investigates the possibility that genius is genetic and can be inherited in families, considers whether creative genii perceive the world in a different way, and determines whether single-mindedness and focus play a part. This is the first book to look at a multitude of traits in creativity, and nail down the key factors that matter (and also which ones don't) to provide an overall picture of this fascinating area, linking the science to the personal.

A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book for Teens "Raw and unflinching . . . A must-read!" --Marieke Nijkamp, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of This Is Where It Ends "[It] cuts to the heart of our bogus ideas of beauty." –Scott Westerfeld, #1 New York Times-bestselling author of Uglies I am ugly. There's a mathematical equation to prove it. At only eight months old, identical twin sisters Ariel and Zan were diagnosed with Crouzon syndrome -- a rare condition where the bones in the head fuse prematurely. They were the first twins known to survive it. Growing up, Ariel and her sister endured numerous appearance-altering procedures. Surgeons would break the bones in their heads and faces to make room for their growing organs. While the physical aspect of their condition was painful, it was nothing compared to the emotional toll of navigating life with a facial disfigurement. Ariel explores beauty and identity in her young-adult memoir about resilience, sisterhood, and the strength it takes to put your life, and yourself, back together time and time again.

This book explores the nature of Jung’s understanding of modern art, in particular his reception to the work of Picasso and his striking prejudice shown in his controversial essay of 1932. Offering an important contribution towards understanding Jung’s attitudes towards Picasso and modern art, the book addresses the impact that Jung’s unwillingness to engage in a deeper exploration of modern artforms had on the development of his psychological ideas. It explores and uncovers the reasons for Jung’s derogatory view of Picasso and abstract art more generally, revealing how Jung was unable to remain objective due to his own complex and equally fascinating relationship with art and the psychology of image making. The book argues that modern art parallels Jung’s interests by embracing the spirit of experimentation and using new imagery to challenge creative conceptions, which makes Jung’s attitudes towards modern art all the more surprising. Jung’s Reception of Picasso and Abstract Art will be of great interest to researchers, academics and those interested in analytical psychology, Jungian studies, art history and modernism, aesthetics and psychoanalysis.

Science of art - commentary on Ramachandran and Hirstein - Art and the Brain - The Emergence of Art and Language in the Human Brain - Cave Art, autism, and the evolution of the human mind - On aesthetic perception

A groundbreaking reassessment of Picasso by one of today's preeminent art historians Picasso and Truth offers a breathtaking and original new look at the most significant artist of the modern era. From Pablo Picasso's early The Blue Room to the later Guernica, eminent art historian T. J. Clark offers a striking reassessment of the artist's paintings from the 1920s and 1930s. Why was the space of a room so basic to Picasso's worldview? And what happened to his art when he began to feel that room-space become too confined—too little exposed to the catastrophes of the twentieth century? Clark explores the role of space and the interior, and the battle between intimacy and monstrosity, in Picasso's art. Based on the A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts delivered at the National Gallery of Art, this volume remedies the biographical and idolatrous tendencies of most studies on Picasso, reasserting the structure and substance of the artist's work. With compelling insight, Clark focuses on three central works—the large-scale Guitar and Mandolin on a Table (1924), The Three Dancers (1925), and The Painter and His Model (1927)—and explores Picasso's answer to Nietzsche's belief that the age-old commitment to truth was imploding in modern European culture. Masterful in its historical contextualization, Picasso and Truth rescues Picasso from the celebrity culture that trivializes his accomplishments and returns us to the tragic vision of his art—humane and appalling, naïve and difficult, in mourning for a lost nineteenth century, yet utterly exposed to the hell of Europe between the wars. Published in association with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC Please note: All images in this ebook are presented in black and white and have been reduced in size.

An illuminating exploration of the meaning of abstract art by acclaimed art historian Kirk Varnedoe "What is abstract art good for? What's the use—for us as individuals, or for any society—of pictures of nothing, of paintings and sculptures or prints or drawings that do not seem to show anything except themselves?" In this invigorating account of abstract art since Jackson Pollock, eminent art historian Kirk Varnedoe, the former chief curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, asks these and other questions as he frankly confronts the uncertainties we may have about the nonrepresentational art produced in the past five decades. He makes a compelling argument for its history and value, much as E. H. Gombrich tackled representation fifty years ago in Art and Illusion, another landmark A. W. Mellon Lectures volume. Realizing that these lectures might be his final work, Varnedoe conceived of them as a statement of his faith in modern art and as the culminating example of his lucidly pragmatic and philosophical approach to art history. He delivered the lectures, edited and reproduced here with their illustrations, to overflowing crowds at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in the spring of 2003, just months before his death. With brilliance, passion, and humor, Varnedoe addresses the skeptical attitudes and misunderstandings that we often bring to our experience of abstract art. Resisting grand generalizations, he makes a deliberate and scholarly case for abstraction—showing us that more than just pure looking is necessary to understand the self-made symbolic language of abstract art. Proceeding decade by decade, he brings alive the history and biography that inform the art while also challenging the received wisdom about distinctions between abstraction and representation, modernism and postmodernism, and minimalism and pop. The result is a fascinating and ultimately moving tour through a half century of abstract art, concluding with an unforgettable description of one of Varnedoe's favorite works. Please note: All images in this ebook are presented in black and white and have been reduced in size.

This book discusses the link between the brain and the mind. Adopting an evidence-based neuropsychiatry approach while also touching on philosophical aspects, it examines the association between diseases of the brain and mental health, offering comprehensive insights into the emerging new discipline of psychoneuroendocrinoimmunology and its translation to clinical practice. The book particularly focuses on brain plasticity and on explaining the ability of the brain to learn new pathways in everyday situations and at the same time improve creativity. Written by clinicians and leading experts in the field of brain physiology and pathology, this book is a valuable resource for medical professionals and postgraduate students.

A fascinating follow-up to the beloved bestseller Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain--with new insights about creativity and our unique way of seeing the world around us Millions of readers have embraced art teacher Betty Edwards's Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, from art students and teachers to established artists, corporate trainers, and more--all discovering a bold new way of drawing and problem-solving based on what we see, not what we think we see. In this highly anticipated follow-up, Edwards illuminates another piece of the creativity puzzle, revealing the role our dominant eye plays in how we perceive, create, and are seen by those around us. Research shows that much like being right-handed or left-handed, each of us has a dominant eye, corresponding to the dominant side of our brain--either verbal or perceptual. Once you learn the difference and try your hand at the simple drawing exercises, you'll gain fresh insights into how you perceive, think, and create. You'll learn how to not just look but truly see. Generously illustrated with visual examples, this remarkable guided tour through art history, psychology, and the creative process is a must-read for anyone looking for a richer understanding of our art, our minds, and ourselves.