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Vision and art : the biology of seeing
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Vision and art : the biology of seeing

by Margaret Livingstone, David Hubel

This study examines the biological basis of human vision and its relationship to art, explaining how the eyes and brain process colour, depth, and movement. It analyses the scientific principles underlying various painting techniques and visual phenomena.

Accession 12763 ISBN 9781419706929 Publisher Abrams
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Curated Derived
Art Art and Society Colour Communication Culture Design Economics Life Sciences Mathematics Medicine Painting Philosophy Psychology Science Social Sciences Writing
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position_updated_at
2026-06-03 16:44
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vertical
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Hard Back
dimensions
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spine_text
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LOCATION HISTORY
G:N1:9 2 Current vertical
1 week, 5 days ago
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Updated 6 days, 21 hours ago
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Identity

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Vision and art : the biology of seeing
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vernon_slug
vision-and-art-the-biology-of-seeing-by-margaret-livingstone-foreword-by-david-hubel

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2014
object_type
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brief_description
Harvard neurobiologist Margaret Livingstone demonstrates that how we see art depends ultimately on the cells in our eyes and our brains. In this new expanded edition Livingstone thoroughly updates this groundbreaking study with the latest findings gathered from her research, with 32 additional pages of new text and images, including 3 brand new chapters. She begins by offering a comprehensive account of the biology of vision, drawing on the history of science and her own cutting edge discoveries. She then turns to art and delves into the science underlying various phenomena in painting, using many examples from the mysterious allure of the Mona Lisa to the amazing atmospheric effects of the impressionists to illustrate her points. Along the way, she shows how similar effects can be used to enhance the impact of advertisements, and explores the different ways images look in paintings, in photographs, on TV, and on computer screens. Accompanying Livingstone s lively and lucid prose are many easy to understand charts and diagrams that clarify her points. Some of these illustrations are based on simple and elegant experiments that show us how the human visual system translates light into color. Others demonstrate how cells in the retina code information and send it to the brain. Still others shed light on how great painters devise techniques to fool the eye into seeing depth and movement. By skillfully bridging the space between science and art, Vision and Art will arm artists and designers with new techniques that they can use in their own craft and thrill any reader with an interest in the biology of human vision.

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Margaret Livingstone, David Hubel
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Art, Arts, Science, Life sciences, Philosophy, Social sciences, Civilisation, Sociology, Colours, Physical sciences, Communication, Physics, Design, Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.), Technology, Biology, Organs (Anatomy), Anatomy, Aesthetics, Senses and sensation, Neurophysiology, Neurobiology, Neurosciences, Medical sciences, Vision, Visual communication, Colour in art, Colour, Optics, Art and science, Art, Modern -- 19th century, Art and technology, Impressionism (Art), Colour (Philosophy), Graphic design (Typography), Neuroaesthetics, Neurosciences and the arts, Vision disorders, Sensory disorders, Nervous system -- Diseases, Colour blindness, Colour in visual communication
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Topics and Themes