Essays on Art and Science

by Eric R. Kandel

When we view a work of art, we often experience an emotional response, but the causes of our reactions are complex. Our knowledge of why we respond to art as we do is rooted in science―in psychology and biology. Eric R. Kandel traces the origins of this understanding to early twentieth-century Vienna, which gave rise to the concept of the “beholder’s share,” the realization that art is incomplete without the perceptual and emotional involvement of the viewer―that is, without our responses to it.

But what causes our response? Our brain is a creativity machine that brings to bear on any image―including a painting―certain innate, universal processes related to sensory perception as well as higher-order processes related to our personal experiences, memories, and emotions. Understanding how these unconscious processes in the brain interact to create the beholder’s share is one of the great challenges confronting brain science in the twenty-first century.

The essays on art and science in this book vary widely in subject matter, including the angst-ridden portraits of Soutine, conflicting views of women’s sexuality, Cubism’s challenge to our innate visual processes, and why we react differently to abstract versus figurative art. But each essay focuses on the interaction of art and science. Woven throughout are the many notable Jewish artists, scientists, art historians, and others who contributed to our understanding of how we experience art.

Genres: Art, Science, Nonfiction, Neuroscience, Essays

232 pages, Hardcover

Published March 26, 2024

About the author

Eric Richard Kandel is an Austrian-born American medical doctor who specialized in psychiatry, a neuroscientist and a professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. He was a recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the physiological basis of memory storage in neurons. He shared the prize with Arvid Carlsson and Paul Greengard.
Kandel was from 1984 to 2022 a Senior Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He was in 1975 the founding director of the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, which is now the Department of Neuroscience at Columbia University. He currently serves on the Scientific Council of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. Kandel's popularized account chronicling his life and research, In Search of Memory: The Emergence of a New Science of Mind, was awarded the 2006 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Science and Technology.

Reviews

[Mircea Petcu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arta este incompletă fără implicarea perceptuală și emoțională a privitorului. Privitorul nu doar colaborează cu artistul, transformând o imagine bidimensională de pe pânză într-o imagine tridimensională a lumii vizuale, ci și interpretează ceea ce vede pe pânză în termeni personali, adăugând astfel semnificație tabloului. Ernst Gombrich a denumit acest fenomen "contribuția privitorului".

Hermann von Helmholtz, unul dintre cei mai importanți fizicieni ai secolului al XIX-lea, a fost primul care a descoperit această procesare de sus în jos din percepția vizuală. El și-a dat seama că imaginile pe care ochii noștri le transmit creierului conțin informații incomplete, de o calitate slabă. Pentru a reconstrui lumea tridimensională și dinamică din aceste imagini bidimensionale și statice, creierul are nevoie de informații suplimentare. Astfel, von Helmholtz a ajuns la concluzia că percepția este în egală măsură și un proces cerebral de estimare și testare, bazat pe experiențe anterioare. Percepția este un act creativ.

Cubismul a făcut din contribuția privitorului subiectul central al artei. Explorând același obiect din multiple poziții avantajoase, cubismul a atras atenția asupra artei prin noi mijloace psihologice. Așa cum a arătat criticul de artă Michael Brenson: "o pictură cubistă se dezvăluie permanent pe sine prin noi modalități. Ea se schimbă și ne surprinde încontinuu".

Recomand

[Andi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this was an interesting collection on the intersection between art, history, religion, psychology, and neuroscience. The writing was accessible- I think even someone who doesn’t generally interact with art or is at the beginning of their art journey could easily pick this up.

The one major issue with this book, which the author does explain in the preface, is the repetition. These essays were written for different audiences throughout the author’s career and weren’t edited to unify them into a cohesive collection. This didn’t bother me until the second half of the book where I started to get tired of having the same concept explained or the same study referenced.

[Stetson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nobel Laureate Eric R. Kandel's Essays on Art and Science is an ambitious though somewhat repetitive and narrowly focused collection. Kandel presents a range of arguments about how neuroscience informs subjective responses to art. This is accompanied by the application of these ideas to the analysis of art and aesthetic movements. Almost all of this analysis is done with respect to the Vienna School of Art or Modernist artists of Jewish ancestry. Eventually, the essays just become actual art criticism, including a comparison of sculpture and painting. There are some interesting insights that Kandel's syncretic approach does generate. However, I worry Kandel's confidence in the neuroscience involved is a bit too robust. He is still apparently a credulous reader of the "mirror neuron" literature, which seems out of step with the current field. Kandel is in his mid-90s after-all so it is remarkable that he's managed to produce this collection.


Kandel is particularly preoccupied with the influence of Freudianism on the Vienna School and the zeitgeist of early 20th century Vienna. This was the cultural moment a bit prior to his birth. It is a bit like a child born in the aughts becoming obsessed with the totems of the 80s - a familiar phenomenon. Yet it is interesting this attachment has persisted so long and animated actual research projects. The alleged consilience between Modern art and the social awareness of unconscious processes in the brain seems plausible but also currently beyond the ken of science. It also risks impressing science into the service of ideas which cannot be science at all. Much of Freudian thought is quite unscientific. I would have like to have seen Kandel wrestle with some of these epistemological questions.


As the above hints, this is very much a collection inspired by pet ideas sustained by vicarious nostalgia. It will be of limited interest to most general readers. This is for those who are deeply interested in the subject matter or want to read all of Kandel's work (I fit loosely into both camps). This collection would have been greatly enhanced by an original essay that synthesized Kandel's comprehensive view of the nexus of art and science. A broader theoretical model would have helped knit this collection together. Further, these essay would have benefitted from thorough editing to prevent near verbatim recapitulations of arguments.

Disclosure: I received this book as an ARC through Netgalley.

[AcademicEditor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection of essays based on speeches the author has given feels like a bit of a money grab, to be honest. Collections of lectures were vitally important in the past, when things weren't recorded and shared in a half dozen venues. As a book, these essays need more editing to avoid repetition, but also they may represent the work of a scholar who isn't as current with the rapidly changing field. And the title is misleading, as this is more about neuroscience than other STEM fields.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I appreciate the author for illustrating how arts invoke beholders’ cognitive and biological responses in the brain, esp. to someone without a science background. There are lots of repetitions but this shows how passionate the author is with the subject. Overall, I have cultivated a bit more awareness about how my brains work and interact with artworks, and I appreciate the breadths of knowledge in Viennese history and arts.

[AJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an intriguing compilation of essays examining art through a scientific lens. Kandel, a leader in modern neuroscience, walks through different periods of history, eras of artwork, and discoveries in neuroscience. One major issue is that it's obvious that this is a compilation of essays published at various times because the content can be quite repetitive; at least seven topics were repeated almost verbatim in different essays. For a collection like this, it would seem important to make sure each topic is represented only once in the book. Overall a quick and compelling read.

[Zac Sigler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent collection, ranging in topic from Jewish artists in Vienna pre-WWII to the brain's reaction to abstract art.

[Alina Talvescu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book contains 7 case studies on modern art painters and the relationship between art and neuroscience. I loved finding out more about Oskar Kokoschka and Chaim Soutine's background/ inspiration.

I would have given 5 stars if some information from the articles wouldn't have been repetitive, but a great collection of articles, anyhow.

[GONZA · Rating 3 out of 5]

To best appreciate this book, in addition to being interested in neuroscience one must love art, and in particular Viennese art at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. I especially liked the chapter in which experiments were carried out that highlighted how abstract art is positioned at a "higher" level cerebrally speaking.

Per apprezzare al meglio questo libro, oltre che essere interessati alle neuroscienze bisogna amare l'arte, ed in particolare quella viennese a cavallo tra l'800 ed il 900. A me é piaciuto soprattutto il capitolo in cui si effettuavano esperimenti che hanno messo in luce come l'arta astratta si posiziona ad un livello "piú alto" celebralmente parlando.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.