Art and Psychology: A Phenomenological Inquiry into the Nature of Pictorial Representations

Starting from the relationship between Merleau-Ponty and Gestalt psychology, this essay aims to investigate and clarify the nature of pictorial representations, taking the work Eye and Mind as its point of departure. When examined critically, the scientific analysis of Gestalt psychologists allows us to grasp the “existential” significance of perception, that is, that dimension of meaning which, according to Merleau-Ponty, can be found both in the world of experience and in pictorial representations. Wertheimer’s laws of unification, and more generally, the factors highlighted by Gestalt-based perception psychologists, can be understood as the conditions of appearance of pictorial representations. From this investigative perspective, it is possible to propose a description of the nature of representations that moves beyond both the notions of “similarity” and denotation, understood here as cultural conventions or linguistic codes (Goodman). The painter, through their work, does not merely imitate the world but rather re-creates it. In this sense, “similarity” may emerge as a consequence of what painters achieve, but it is neither the foundation of their work nor an explanation of their activity. The aim, therefore, is to clarify the relationship between art, the world, and visual perception, by analyzing some examples (particularly from the works of Cézanne and Magritte), in order to grasp the true nature of pictorial representations.