The Objective Eye
Color, Form, and Reality in the Theory of Art
- Contents
- Review Quotes
Table of Contents

Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction
Color
1. Galileo’s Myth
2. Frames of Reference
3. Perceiving Powers
Depiction
4. Art and Imitation
Preface
Introduction
Color
1. Galileo’s Myth
2. Frames of Reference
3. Perceiving Powers
Depiction
4. Art and Imitation
5. Art and Occlusion
6. Art and Optics
7. Art and Experience
Realism
8. Words and Pictures
9. Realism and Relativism
10. The Canvas of the Brain
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Credits
Index
7. Art and Experience
Realism
8. Words and Pictures
9. Realism and Relativism
10. The Canvas of the Brain
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Credits
Index
Review Quotes
Edward Skidelsky | New Statesman
"[The Objective Eye] scrupulously dissects the various myths and confusions surrounding the concept of depiction, with the aim of rehabilitating realism as ’one kind of excellence in art.’ Against the misgivings of sophisticates, it champions what it sees as the natural, pre-theoretical stance of artists themselves. . . . The concept of modality is Hyman’s most important innovation. It opens up the fascinating prospect of a cross-cultural history of pictorial representation, freed from dependence upon the psychology of illusion. Historians of art -- take note."
Stephen Mulhall | London Review of Books
"One of the many virtues of Hyman’s book is that it provides a sustained, rigorous and devastating critique of such subjectivism, and a carefully nuanced defence of his own version of objectivism. . . . The rigorous clarity and elegant concision of Hyman’s writing--literary virtues to which the best analytical philosophy has always aspired--carry his reader through even the most challenging sections. No one will come away from his book without having learned a great deal about one of the most familiar mysteries of human culture."
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