Gestalt Thesis

1. GESTALT USES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE:
WEAVING A UNIVERSAL PERSPECTIVE
Mini-Thesis
By
Rede Ballard
Degree of Master of Art in Teaching
With a Major in Art
Art Department University of Idaho
May 2009

2. Abstract
The influence of Gestalt theory on modern aesthetics is far reaching. Developed
in the late 1800’s and refined in the 1920’s, the concepts associated with Gestalt
permeate the very essence of image making. The connectivity of the artist, viewer, and
the psychology that is at play, form the connective dance that is effective visual
communication. In it’s simplest translation from its German origins Gestalt means
“organized whole or configuration”. As we take from the individual parts we are able to
intrinsically interpret and summarize a whole.
For me, in terms of teaching as well as image making Gestalt is the tool that
allows me to connect to the inherent abilities, of student and viewer alike, to perceive a
rational conclusion to a contextual set of visual problems presented to them.
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3. Acknowledgments
My thanks to Sally Machlis, Frank Cronk, Marco Deyasi and all other faculty at the
University of Idaho for there commitment to not only myself but all their students. I
would especially like to thank my wife Candy for putting up with me during my two-year
grumpy period, as well as my children Taylor, Logan, Hailee, and little Braydn who
forgave dad when he couldn’t play.
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4. Table of Contents
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………. 1
Acknowledgments………………………………………………………………. 3
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………….. 4
List of Illustrations……………………………………………………………… 5-6
Introductions……………………………………………………………………. 7-8
Historic Overview……………………………………………………………… 9-11
Arnheim The Gestalt Psychology of Art……………………………………….. 12-13
Emotion and cognitive Connection…………………………………................... 14
Pragnanz………………………………………………………………………… 15
Reception and Interpretation……………………………………………………. 16
Defining Gestalt Design………………………………………………………… 17-20
Selected Works…………………………………………………………………. 21-27
Implication for Teaching………………………………………………………... 28
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 29
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………. 30
Endnotes………………………………………………………………………… 31-32
List of Illustrations
Figure 1 …………………………… Zoetrope
Circa 1900’s
Figure 2 …………………………… Paul Klee, Heroic Roses,
1938.
Figure 3 …………………………… Proximity, The Language of Visual Art,
1989.
Figure 4 …………………………… Similarity, The Language of Visual Art,
1989.
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5. Figure 5 …………………………… Continuity, The Language of Visual Art,
1989.
Figure 6 …………………………… Closure, The Language of Visual Art,
1989.
Figure 7 …………………………… Equilibrium, The Language of Visual
Art,
1989.
Figure 8 …………………………… Assimilation, The Language of Visual
Art,
1989.
Figure 9 …………………………… Andrew Wyeth, Christina’s World,
1948.
Figure 10 …………………………… Rede Ballard, Logan’s Place,
2009.
Figure 11 …………………………… Rede Ballard, Taylor,
2009.
Figure 12 …………………………… Edward Hopper, Automate,
1927.
Figure 13 …………………………… Rede Ballard, Taylor’s fife,
2009.
Figure 14 …………………………… Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas,
1939.
Figure 15 …………………………… Renee Magrite, Son of Man,
1964.
Figure 16 …………………………… Rede Ballard, Braydn’s Will,
2008.
Figure 17 …………………………… Claude Monet, Cathedrale de Rouen,
1893.
Figure 18 …………………………… Paul Cezanne, Mount Sainte Victoire,
1893.
Figure 19 …………………………… Richard Schmid, Cumbrian Waterfall,
1988.
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6. Figure 20 …………………………… Russell Chatham, Fall Evening,
1980.
Figure 21 …………………………… Rede Ballard, Teton Valley,
2009.
Figure 22 …………………………….
.
Rede Ballard, The Long Road,
2008
.
Introduction
The major contention I would like to establish in this work is how gestalt, when
used affectively, is a more reliable connective psychological tool in visual
communication then the psychoanalytical approach that has dominated aesthetics over the
past century.
Gestalt has become the guiding influence in my work as well as in my teaching.
It is critical not only in terms of its practical design application to my work, but in my
understanding of what defines visual communication and teaching pedagogy as well;
what has become for me a psychology of connectedness. I feel that it is within most, if
not all, student or viewers to reason through a set of stimuli and diagnose a logical
individually relevant conclusion.
Many of Gestalt theories lay in direct conflict to the psychoanalytical approach to
aesthetics, which emphasizes an emotional nexus as the focus of aesthetic evaluation.
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7. This approach has dominated the field of art criticism as well as production in recent
times and has, I feel, led artist away from the effective potential of their image making.
Gestalt is perhaps summed up best by Max Werthheimer’s quote that the
fundamental “formula” of Gestalt theory might be expressed in this way: “there are
wholes, the behavior of which is not determined by that of their individual elements, but
where the part-processes are themselves determined by the intrinsic nature of the whole.
It is the hope of gestalt theory to determine the nature of such wholes.” 1
Through it’s basic premise of constructing a universal experiential aesthetic
Gestalt allows for me a broader sense of the importance of the artist in human existence.
We are the keepers of dialogue, our role as both mirror and interpreter make us the
guardians of human experience. It is through these theories and shared experience that I
am able to look back retrospectively through the history of art and see why it is that I
have felt connection to a particular number of works by others, and in turn borrowed
aspects of their solutions in an attempt to express a similar human story.
While my ability to fully comprehend the full potential of gestalt theory on my
work and teaching is not complete, it has been instrumental in my thinking about how,
and ultimately why, I, and my students produce art.
“Much more than mere perception, an image of humanity attaches to ordered
Perception. We perceive the bounty afforded by some things and the lack missing
In others.” 2
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8. Historic Overview
The psychological theory of Gestalt began in Germany in the early 1900’s. It is
derived from investigations in psychology, logic, and epistemology. Gestalt has evolved
into a mixture of existential philosophy, phenomenology, holism, humanism, orthodox
and interpersonal psychoanalysis, and Eastern philosophies. It was developed by a group
of German psychologist most notable Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler,
and Christian von Ehrenfels. Gestalt theory can be traced back to the romantic humanism
ideas of Spinoza. Harvard professor Rudolf Arnheim the leading expert on Gestalt and
its influences on art writes how “ Spinozistic was the notion that order and wisdom are
not imposed upon nature but are inherent in nature itself; of great interest also was
Spinoza’s idea that mental and physical existence are aspects of one and the same reality
and therefore reflections of each other.” 3
It can then be asserted that in the Gestalt view
the human mind and nature are bound by the laws of order, and that by applying this
notion there can exist a cohesive effective approach to visual communication.
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9. Figure 1
Zoetrope, circa 1900’s
Even in it’s infancy the influence of perception of external stimuli on a
psychological interpretation was evident. In 1890, Christian von Erenfels publish his
paper entitled “On Gestalt Qualities” where he pointed to the fact that a piece of music
can still be recognized even when played in different keys, or when notes where left out.
This led to his argument that “if a melody and the notes that comprise it are so
independent, that a whole is not simply the sum of its parts, but a synergistic whole
effect, or gestalt”. 4
In a similar effect on a visual form of this theory Max Wertheimer, who studied
under Erenfels, experimented with the ideas of a motion
picture in which he used a zoetrope to view a single
framed image in a running series much like a flipbook
(Fig. 1). It was Werthheimer’s assumption that when
viewed in sequence, continuously, these single images
would combine to affect a common narrative. Rather a
quant notion nowadays considering advances in film
technology, yet somewhat ground breaking in the later half
of the nineteenth century. These early works demonstrated that an individual organizes
his/her perceptions into meaningful sets. This principle of perception became a basic
concept in Gestalt Theory. These experiences with perception have influenced other
theorist and psychologist to link the potential of Gestalt theory to many other fields
including linguistics, art therapy, musicology, instructional design, human computer
interaction, architectural design, and visual communication. 5
It was after the establishment of Werthheimer’s “apparent movement” theory
9
Figure 1
Zoetrope, circa 1900’s

10. Figure 2
Heroic Roses, 1938
based on the illusion of motion pictures, and the subsequent five-year period at the
Psychological Institute in Frankfurt further investigating his theory, that he met with
psychologists Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler to form the nucleus of gestalt theory.
In 1923 Werthheimer published the “Theory of Form”, which became known as
the dot essay because it was illustrated with abstract patterns of dots and lines.
Werthheimer concluded in the work that certain gestalts are enhanced by our innate
tendency to constellate, or to see as “belonging together” elements that look alike (called
“Similarity grouping”), are close together (“proximity grouping”) or have structural
economy (“good continuation”). 6
That such tendencies are inborn, not learned, is
suggested by the cross-cultural effectiveness of sleight-of-hand magic and camouflage,
both of which work by subverting the laws described in Wertheimer’s paper. But the
interplay of such grouping tendencies is far from simple, because: (1) as the effective of
simultaneous contrast demonstrates, the appearance of parts is determined by wholes; (2)
judgments about similarity or proximity are always comparative; and (3) in compositions
as intricate as paintings, posters and page layouts, parts may be purposely made to
connect by one grouping tendency (similarity of
color, for example, or differences of shape, size
or direction). 7
Many artist where directly influenced by
these assertions including Vasily Kandinsky and
Piet Modrian. One artist who was directly influences by Werthheimer’s dot essay was
Paul Klee, who attended Werthheimer lectures and used some of its diagrams in his
paintings in the 1930’s (fig.2). 8
Most other artist have become familiar with
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11. Werthheimer’s laws of visual organization through the two important texts: Language of
Vision (1944) by Gyorgy Kepes, and Art and Visual perception: A Psychology of the
Creative Eye (1954) by Rudolf Arnheim. It is Rudolf Arnheim who has had the most
lasting influence. Arnheim, a German immigrant, has published 13 works on gestalt
theory and art also became professor of the Psychology of Art at Harvard University.
Arnheim
The Gestalt Psychology of Art
If we are to understand Rudolph Arnheims approach to gestalt aesthetics we must
first apply a definition of Psychology and it’s aims as well as look to how the gestalt
aesthetic method attempts to segregate itself from a psychoanalytical approach to
aesthetics.
It is Arnheim’s contention that if the psychology of art is to hold itself to a
scientific definition it must then have at its disposal methods of perception that are
scientifically arguable. This scientific reasoning is what Arnhiem’s points to as a
shortcoming in the psychoanalytical aesthetic model.
According to Ian Verstegen “What Arnheim would object to is a somewhat naïve
epistemological idea common to many psychoanalytic treatments that sees unconscious
drives as working blindly without feedback from the environment. Furthermore,
Arnheim has been disappointed with the inability of most psychoanalysis to respond to
the greatness of works of art”. 9
Over the past half a century or more it is this
psychoanalytical model of perceiving aesthetics through the unconscious that has
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12. dominated approaches to not only production, critical observation and analysis as well.
Although the definition of psychoanalysis has changed from its Freudian roots it still
continues to emerge from the same epistemological standpoint and is thus not an
effective scientific method to be used it perceptual psychology.
Because Gestalt psychology attempts to explain many aspects of meaningful
perception at an elementary level, it promises to serve as an important fundamental level
of analysis. If, as Arnheim argued many years ago, “a round form represents for a child
‘thingness,’ it cannot be interpreted as representing some other idea that psychologists
might like to foist upon the child”. 10
Without a psychology sensitive to such factors, the
speculative psychologist as Verstegen sees it “will operate at a level of generality that is
too great to exhaust certain formal characteristics of the work that are necessary to
dispense with before further speculation is possible”. 11
If we now view the Arnhiem model of Gestalt as a perceptual model of
understanding it then has the advantage of not only demonstrating how the work of artist
can be dissected through design, it additionally presents us now with a contextual
framework for understanding the psychological emotional connectivity the work shares
with those who view it.
Gestalt theory represents what is seen as a weaving of realism and the formative
power of the human mind. Views stressing native abilities of rationalism along with the
importance of unlearned abilities and the sufficiency of stimulation for perception and
thought. This tying together of cognitive theories allows the gestalt model to demonstrate
how the viewer is able to intuitively accumulate sensory information in a given space and
then infer through reasoning a connective psychological thread.
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13. A distinction exists her where the psychoanalytical approach which would view a
psychological response to these stimuli as emotive. The Gestalt view is a more
cognitively rational approach. Seeing the emotional response as an individualist
experiential reflexive response. Gestalt is thus universal not individual.
Emotion and Cognitive Connection
To perceive insight into the internal character of a work through its outside
appearance and to then access an emotional origin is something Gestaltists have tried to
circumvent. The thing that Arnheim implied is that “metaphor is not birthed out of this
physiognomic perception rather the insight is derived out of metaphor built on structures
inherently in place in our psychological pre-constructs”. 12
For the Gestaltist there exists a structural connection of the senses that allows for
a unified frame of response when confronted with stimuli. This response is then
cognitively related to past experience and a qualitative metaphoric response is then
registered. The ensuing emotional response is then an individualized metaphorical
reaction. This effected response takes place at a level of abstracted cognitive reasoning
where two perceptual images are combined to form meaning. This structural metaphoric
reference taken from stimuli according to Arnheim “portrays things which are at a higher
level of abstractness than is the symbol itself”. 13
In this metacognitive approach Arnheim is attempting to weave together the
ability of the senses to contain universal or abstract information, along with the minds
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14. ability to manipulate images for productive thinking. Arnheim is relating the two by
saying that “individual mental impressions, or our collective sense datum, already contain
abstract content.” 14
Through an engineered dissection of the symbols within a work of art
the artist and in turn the viewer are engaged in the task of problem solving for the act of
creation as well as interpretation. Arnheim pointed to this assertion in one of his pivotal
works “Perceptual Abstraction and Art”.
Pragnanz
In asserting that perceiving has at its nature an abstracting sense Arnheim is
predating what is now taken for granted in Cognitive Psychology. In “Perceptual
Abstraction and Art” Arnheim considered the “intelligence” of the senses and asserted,
through the gestalt theory of pragnanz how this cognitive act takes place. The law of
pragnanz is the fundamental principle of gestalt perception, which says that we tend to
order our experience in a manner that is regular, orderly, symmetric, and simple. It is this
that allows gestalt theory to take care of abstraction because it provides us with a
structural framework with which the mind can economically organize stimuli, it creates
the ability to hold many examples under one rubric. As Arnheim says “all perception is
the perceiving of qualities, and since all qualities are generic, perception always refers to
generic qualities.” 15
14

15. Reception and Interpretation
What role then does how the viewer receives a work of art lead to an
understanding of interpretation in the Gestalt psychology of art? Gestaltists tried over the
years to describe the ways in which we see images differently because of our built
experiential framework yet similarly due to the nature of gestalt. What Arnheim
suggested is that because of the relativity of perception, “probably only a further shift of
the reality level is needed to make the Picassos, the Bracques, or the Klees look exactly
like the things they represent”. 16
What he was trying to say is that these artists and the
way in which there work has been received is based on our innate ability to organize
rationally all the given information and then contextually reason through it.
This produces a functional approach to artist’s and art as well as interpretation.
What can be garnered from this approach is that art can be interpreted with the idea that
when all information is accumulated there is a unified level of reasoning that is universal
and applicable.
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16. Defining Gestalt Design
It is important to first address the physical vocabulary of Gestalt Design in order
to better understand its uses and effects on the psychology of the viewer.
Historically artist and designers using gestalt theory have focused on a handful of
perceptual laws to improve their effectiveness of image. Gestalt psychologist have
attempted to discover refinements of the law of pragnanz, these laws are theoretically
used to allow us to predict the interpretations of sensation, these are often called “gestalt
laws” They include proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, and equilibrium. It is
important to keep in mind that each principle does not operate
independently but always works in concert with every one of
the others.
Proximity: What is closest together unites. Elements that are
near to one another join together to form patterns or
“groupings,” figures against the ground (fig.3). 17
16
Figure 3

17. Figure 4
Figure 5
Similarity: Visual elements that resemble another in some way (form or shape, size,
color, direction) unite to form a homogeneous group figure. Modern psychologists
believe that the orientation-or slope-of lines are the major factor in similarity grouping
(fig.4). 18
Continuity: Perceptual organization tends to move in one direction;
thus we can follow the path of a single line (or contour) even in a
maze of many overlapping lines (fig.5).
Closure: We possess an innate tendency to close gaps and to make wholes. The result is
more visually stable. When we can achieve this, we are both physically and
psychologically rewarded. Things feel in harmony. If edges, contours, or masses are not
joined, our brain may connect them together if it can find evidence of continuation. The
fewer the interruptions or discontinuities, the more likely
closure will occur. Such “closed” areas are readily seen as a
figure. Closure is a confirmation by the brain of a preexisting
idea; it is not a verification of knowledge (fig.6). 19
17
Figure 6

18. Figure 7
Equilibrium: (Balance and orientation). Every visual field tends toward excellence or
precision-completeness-just as all physical activity is directed toward attaining physical
balance or achieving equity in opposing forces. The idea is reflected in the ancient
Chinese concept of the yin and the yang. Psychologically, we are very uncomfortable-
sometimes frightened-by anything perceived to be out of balance whether or not it is
something we are experiencing physically or perceiving visually. It is a condition that we
will not tolerate for very long. Nature strives
for the most regular organization possible.
Evidence of this may be observed in a water
droplet; stretched out as it starts, it gradually
changes to a spherical form as it falls. Our
visual perception conforms to this concept. We prefer or are attracted to, figures that
exhibit the fewest alternative modes of organization. The brain tends to see the stimulus
as more correct than it really is by mentally altering the configuration of any figure-object
or thought perceived to fit (the simplest interpretation). It is a process of stereotyping or
model making. We assume that objects viewed have a regular organization (fig.7). 20
Assimilation: This is a process by which a meaningful impression obtained by any one
or more of the senses are related to the vast storehouse of past experience and knowledge.
Assimilation is responsible for a characteristic that psychologist call “isomorphic
correspondence.” This is the relationship between the appearance of a visual form and a
comparable response in human behavior. We know the glowing hot coils on an electric
18

19. Figure 8
stove will burn us; we will recoil and shout at a small child about to touch them. We can
feel the hurt. Seeing an image of broken glass or of sharp thorns may cause most viewers
to shiver. We are reminded of a previous uncomfortable experience with these and
respond emotionally to the visual image. The image-sometimes the mere thought-of a
gun or a knife disturbs some persons because the function of guns and knives is well
understood. In the arts, isomorphic
correspondence is an especially valuable concept.
When the correct groundwork is laid, the
emotional response may be very strong (fig.8). 21
19

20. Figure 9
Christina’s World, 1948
Selected Works
The first work I have chosen to
isolate for this paper is Christina’s World
by Andrew Wyeth (fig.9). It has become
for me an important example of effective
use of the laws of gestalt. It is my hope
that my work will at some level achieve a
similar form of gestalt and create a
connective thread with the viewer.
Through Wyeth’s use of proximity we can see the connectivity of actors in the
scene. The triangulation of Christina the house and the emotion of the scene are set in
motion through both this proximity or lack there-of. It becomes a play of the emotional
weight of distance. We as the viewer use the closure of a fixed line of Christina’s gaze to
become both Christina as well as Christina’s longing.
Through assimilation we feel the wind and temperature, the
texture of the land under our skin the ache of her bones. It is
a perfect example of how the gestalt pragnanz can effect
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21. Figure 10
Logan’s Place, 2009
Figure 11
Taylor, 2009
Figure 12
Automate, 1927
emotional connection.
I have used a similar approach in my recent figurative works based on my children and
their disabilities (fig.10). I am attempting for the same
kind of triangulation between the viewer, subject, and
object. The walker or crutch (object) serves as a visual
cue, through closure or assimilation, to represent
separation or difference with viewer. The
proximity or physical relationships between
viewer and subject, subject and object, are intended to
help create tension; back to viewer head turned in
shame. The Gestalt set in motion (fig.11).
Wyeth shared a similar sense of aesthetics with
Edward hopper, whom I also admire and have used as
inspiration. In May of 1967 upon hearing of Hopper’s
death Wyeth wrote,
“Even though Hopper wasn’t painting much, the fact that he was alive and still
thinking….He never lost the large grasp, never got mixed up in a lot of picky young
theories that don’t mean anything. The strange dignity of Hopper’s people and the way
he has stripped everything away till there was nothing, till you are filling nothingness
with emotion. He ended up painting a corner of a vacant room and a patch of sun. The
whole world in a shaft of light”. 22
Hopper use of
isolated figures within a field is something I have
incorporated in my figurative works. Through a
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22. Figure 13
Taylor’s fife
Figure 14
The Two Fridas, 1939
lack of proximity of figures and the ensuing affect of unbalanced viewer equilibrium
Hopper is able to connect with an emotional response to our feeling of aloneness.
Through assimilation we feel the quite in an image like Automate where we become,
through pragnanz, the lone character (fig.12). I have focused on solitary figures as well
in my narrative works in hopes of creating a similar effect of isolation and separation.
My hope is that the viewer will feel, as we do with
Hopper, a sense of connection and quiet melancholy
through Gestalt (fig.13).
Another artists whose work I have been
drawn to is Frida Kahlo. I have always been
attracted to the Two Fridas in particular (fig.14).
The use of object as metaphor is essential In Kahlo’s
work as well as my own. Her use of closure to
connect the physical with the metaphysical is one of
her strongest tools. We connect through her use of
similarity that the figures are the same. At the same time the offset of equilibrium allows
for a tension in the figures dissimilarity. The bleeding heart in it’s fragile state,
connecting through a common line the figures
eternally struggle of identity, give to us the
ability to see how closure can enable metaphor
to serve as a narrative strand.
An additional artist whose work with
object as metaphor that has been inspirational
22

23. Figure 15
Son of Man, 1964
Figure 16
Braydn’s Will 1, 2008
to me is Renee Magritte. I have been impressed with his
effective use of two of the laws in particular. In a work
like Son of Man Magritte has emphasized through
proximity the relationship between the apple and the
face of the businessman (fig.15). In doing so he is able
to challenge human assumptions about the unknown.
There is tension that is created for the viewer with a loss
of continuity and equilibrium in what is otherwise a
“normal” existence, this tension is what I have been trying to mimic in my recent Will
series.
In the recent Will series I have tried to employ a similar use of object as
metaphor. The series is based on readings of Carlos Castaneda a historic anthropologist
doing work in the late 60’s based on the use of psychotropic drugs for
medicinal use. The series is based in particular on the Yaqui Indian belief
that there are places on the human body where life forces emanate in this case will. In
the work the transparent lines become metaphor for what is at times partially or
completely unseen. Similar to the Two Fridahs and the conflict of identity I want the
idea of struggle of will to be hinted at by the physical evidence while at the same time
creating questions of causality in the
viewer. I wanted to disrupt the
equilibrium by placing an unexpected object
within a normalized figurative
environment causing a Magrettesque
23

24. Figure 17
Cathedrale de Rouen, 1893
challenge of the assumed unknown (fig.16).
In the landscape monotype series I have been extensively working on I have been
trying to imitate gestalt methods I have observed throughout the work of the
impressionist. It is their application methods that are most important in terms of effective
use of gestalt. In particular the work of Monet and Cezanne have most impacted my
work. In both artists work there exists the profound use of similarity and closure. In
Monet’s Ruen Cathedral series the viewer is meant
to see structure through subtle changes in light and
value, in actuality the surface is a blinding
abstraction of dabs of paint, yet for the viewer it
becomes a sublime affect of color and the definition
is physical reality (fig.17). Through closure we are
allowed to see the world our experiences tell us
exist. Cezanne applies the same understanding with
a more simplified yet effective approach in use of
gestalt. His work challenges the viewer even more
to use closure and similarity to identify object and
subject yet the results are no less apparent. In
the work he is able to coax the viewer into a
relationship of perception. We view and
recognize the information, make association
through the senses, and the magic is kept alive
(fig.18).
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25. Figure 18
Mount Sainte Victoire, 1893
Figure 19
Cumbrian Waterfall, 1988
Figure 20
Fall Evening, 1980
Figure 21
Teton Valley, 2009
There have been additional artist whose work has
used similar effects that have extended this form of
Gestalt. The work of Richard Schmidt and
Russell Chatham have had influence of my work
as well, each
attempts
through
different
routs of
execution to do what the earlier impressionist
have done to connect the viewer to the scene.
In particular I have used the abstract edge quality of Richard Schmid to push the
boundaries of the closure of realism through abstraction (fig.19). This occurs in the work
of Russell Chatham as well, his ability to
blur the edges of subject, control
subtleties of tone, and blur the line of
realism have been of particular
importance in my work (fig.20).
I have tried in these landscapes to use
elements of both the impressionists as
well as the modern landscape artist to produce a hybrid mixture of sensibilities heavily
routed in the same sensibilities. My aim has been to use effects similar to the artists
mentioned to engage the viewer in the play of experience and psychology of art through
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26. the principles of gestalt (fig.21). I have tried to implement an abstract sense through
brush work like that of Cezanne or Monet adding marks of color and tone each
combining to become sky, land, structure. I have played around with abstract edges to
balance the boarder between abstraction and realism like
Schmidt, and controlled tone and subject similar to
Chatham, to blur the separation between what is
perceived as actual and what our innate gestalt implies
(fig.22).
26
Figure 22
The Long Road, 2008

27. Implications for Teaching
The Gestalt principles have many applications in the field of education. I have
tried to weave its influences throughout my productive, as well as theoretical, curriculum
at the secondary and collegiate level.
My aim has always been to encourage the native inherent abilities in students to
make connection through what is not given. “There’s to need to beat the viewer over the
head with your purpose you might as well paint arrows” is a typical expression students
have heard over the years. It has always been my intent to teach them to engage the
viewer in a dialogue of common experience. “Allow the viewer to become an active
member in the dissection of what you set in motion, let them finish your equation.” At
the same time I am pushing for use of pragnanz in design, I am coaxing a realization of
connection through aesthetic evaluation of historical works. “See the process be the
process.”
My hope has always been that when our time together is finished the students
leave with at least an initial understanding and appreciation for the connective threads of
gestalt.
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28. CONCLUSION
While not existing in the mainstream of conceptual aesthetics Gestalt for me is the
philosophical cornerstone of my productive life. It has woven itself into my conscious
beliefs on what art and educational pedagogy should be. I am a pragmatist. While I
understand the philosophical stance of the modernist aesthetic, I feel it has somehow
focused attention on that which is perpetually functionally, irrelevant. Not that questions
of the subconscious shouldn’t be asked, but perhaps we shouldn’t continue to expect an
answer. Even for Freud sometimes a “cigar is just a cigar”.
“What happens when a problem is solved, when one suddenly “sees the point”?
Common as this experience is, we seek in vain for it in the textbooks of psychology.
Of things arid, poor, and inessential there is an abundance, but that which really
matters is missing. Instead we are told of formation of concepts, of abstraction and
generalization, of class concepts and judgments, perhaps of associations, creative
fantasy, intuitions, talents-anything but an answer to our original problem. And what
are these last words but names for the problem? Where are the penetrating answers?
Psychology is replete with terms of great potentiality-personality, essence, intuition,
and the rest. But when one seeks to grasp their concrete content, such terms fail.”23
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29. Bibliography
Arnheim, R., Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye.
Berkeley California: University of California Press, 1954, revised 1974.
Arnheim, R., New Essays on the Psychology of Art; Perceptual Abstraction and
Art. Berkeley California: University of California Press, 1986.
Arnheim, R., Visual Thinking. Berkeley California: University of California Press,
1969.
Ash, M., Gestalt Psychology in German Culture: Holism and the Quest for Objectivity.
Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Graham Lisa., “Gestalt Theory in Interactive Media Design”, Journal of
Humanities and Social Sciences, 1, no 2, 2005.,
Marianne Teuber “Blue Night by Paul Klee: Vision and Artifact” Henle M., ed.,
New York: Springer, 1976.
Richard Meryman., Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life. Harper Collins Publishers. 1998
Meyers, J, F,, The Language of Visual Art; Perception as a Basis for Design.
Dryden Press: Saunders College Press, 1989.
Verstegen, I., Gestalt and Art; A Psychological Theory. Vienna: Springer, 2005
Wertheimer, M., “Gestalt Theory”, translation in a Source Book of
Gestalt Psychology. Ed. Willis, D. Ellis. New York: Harcourt Brace and
Co., 1938.
29

30. 1
Endnotes
Max Wertheimer., “Gestalt Theory”, translation in a Source Book of
Gestalt Psychology. Ed. Willis, D. Ellis. (New York: Harcourt Brace and
Co., 1938), 1.
2
Ian Verstegen., Gestalt and Art; A Psychological Theory. (Vienna: Springer, 2005), 2.
3
Rudolf Arnheim., Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye.
(Berkeley California: University of California Press, 1954, revised 1974), 37.
4
Mitchell Ash., Gestalt Psychology in German Culture: Holism and the Quest for
Objectivity. (Cambridge University Press, 1998), 88.
5
Lisa Graham., “Gestalt Theory in Interactive Media Design”, Journal of Humanities and
Social Sciences, 1, no 2, (2005), 1.
6
Max Wertheimer., “Gestalt Theory”, Translation in a Source Book of Gestalt Psychology.
Ed. Willis, D. Ellis. (New York: Harcourt Brace and Co., 1938), 1.
7
(Wertheimer 1938, 2)
8
Marianne Teuber “Blue Night by Paul Klee: Vision and Artifact” Henle M., ed.,New York:
Springer, (1976)
9
(Verstegen 2005, 9)
10
(Verstegen 2005, 10)
11
(Verstegen 2005, 10)
12
Rudolph Arnheim., New Essays on the Psychology of Art; Perceptual Abstraction and Art.
Berkeley California: University of California Press, (1986), 36.
13
(Arnheim 1986, 37)
14
(Arnheim 1986, 38)
15
(Arnheim 1986, 38)

31. 16
Rudolph Arnheim., Visual Thinking. Berkeley California: University of California Press,
(1969), 37.
17
Jack Meyers, F,, The Language of Visual Art; Perception as a Basis for Design. Dryden
Press: Saunders College Press, (1989), 54.
18
(Meyers 1989, 54)
19
(Meyers 1989, 55)
20
(Meyers 1989, 55)
21
(Meyers 1989, 56)
22
Richard Meryman., Andrew Wyeth: A Secret Life. Harper Collins Publishers. (1998)
23
(Wertheimer 1938, 1)