Leonardo

A Sense of Order: A Study in the Psychology of Decorative Art

Author(s): E. H. Gombrich
Source: Leonardo, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Winter, 1981), p. 88
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1574538 .
Accessed: 12/06/2014 18:45

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

The MIT Press and Leonardo are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
Leonardo.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 91.229.248.139 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:45:46 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
88 LIetters
often believedto be effectivein drawingattentionto a subject
considereddreadfullydullby most people.
I have appreciatedthe revivalof the debateon the validity
of astrology generated by my article in Leonardo 6, 121
(1973). It may be surprisingthat the most personal and
career-damagingattacks on my article and book came not
from astrologersbut from researchersclaiminga 'scientific'
proof of astrology. I did not mind threats of legal action
againstme, nor 'practicaljokes', but I didmindthe holdingup
of the publicationof my book by legal action by certain
individualsin the U.S.A. I did not anticipatesuchactionsin a
societythat claimsto believein the freedomof the press.
LawrenceE. Jerome
10301SerranoCourt
SanJose, CA 95127, U.S.A.
'HighDiver'
If readers will read Michael Wishart'sautobiography,my
reviewof it in Leonardo13, 255 (1980)and his commentson
my review in Leonardo13, 255 (1980), they will understand
whyI do not wishto take up his commentspointby point. I do
wish to state that I did not place him 'in the companyof
Beaudelaire,Flaubert,Gide, Lawrence,Joyce et al'. He is
flatteringhimself.
R. S. Biran
107SouthBroadway
Nyack,NY 10960,U.S.A.
'JustThisSideof Madness:Creativityandthe Driveto Create'
I wish to commenton one aspect only of the review of my
book by D. N. Perkinsin Leonardo13, 335 (1980). Though
understandingaccuratelythe salient points of my book, he
has, I fear, failed to appreciatethe purposeof my study. I
believe that a statementof my intentwill clarifymanyof the
criticismsleveledby him. His characterization of the presenta-
tion of major ideas as 'claims', 'assertions'and 'arguments'
exemplifiesthis misunderstanding.
My purpose was to outline a hypothesisthat a 'drive to
create'is geneticallydeterminedand that at least one genetic
locus involved in the inheritanceof the creative drive is
located on the same chromosomeand relativelyclose to a
locus determiningsusceptibilityto affectivedisorders.Presen-
tation of a hypothesisratherthan assemblingevidence that
'proves'it requiresjustification.My justificationis that provi-
sion of evidencestill requiresmajorinterdisciplinary research
efforts.
The 'fair surveyof many makersin many circumstances',
apparentlyconsideredadequateby Perkins,would produce
correlations requiringhypotheses suggesting causes; these
hypotheseswouldthen have to be tested. I firmlybelievethat
at this juncturemy hypothesisof a geneticallydetermined
drive to create as distinctfromcreativetalent servesto focus
This content downloaded from 91.229.248.139 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:45:46 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
the attentionof both laymenand scientistsupon new waysto
analyzeandquantifyaspectsof creativityin the broadsense. If
efforts to gather data relevant to testing the hypothesis
proposedare made, then my purposein presentingthe book
has been fulfilled.
CarolAnn Morizot
P. O. Box 59
Marshall,AR 72650, U.S.A.
'A Sense of Order:A Study in the Psychologyof Decorative
Art'
I wishto commentbrieflyon David R. Topper'sreviewof my
book in Leonardo13, 336 (1980). I am promptedto do so by
his remarkthat 'thereis no majortheoreticalconceptthatties
togetherthe variouschapters.'The faultmustbe mine, for he
is not the only well-disposedreviewerwho thus missed the
point of the book. I should have rememberedE. A. Poe's
famous story of the purloinedletter that the police cannot
find, because it is left in front of everybody'seyes. For the
'majortheoreticalconcept'for whichTopperlookedin vainis
preciselythe sense of order.
It is by no meansobviousthatthereexistssucha sense that,
as I claim,is essentialfor the survivalof anyorganismbecause
the a priori expectationof order (whetherjustifiedor not)
offers the best strategyfor the constructionof cognitivemaps
of environmentsthrough subsequentadjustmentand mod-
ification.I tried to show that one is so programmedthat any
decreaseor increasein orderimpingeson one's awareness.It
is thisemphasison the importanceof deviationsfromexpected
ordersthat distinguishesthe hypothesisI advancefrom Ges-
talt psychology.I put it forwardto explainboth the human
tendencyto producean orderedenvironmentand the aesthe-
tic relevance of breaks in continuityas 'visual accents'. I
believe that this assumptionand its implicationsilluminate
manyaspectsof decorativedesignand otherhumanactivities
(includingthe dance, music and verse) that exemplify the
sense of order. This theoreticalframeworkowes, of course,
much to the theory of informationand to K. R. Popper's
epistemology.It has nothingto do with the historicalhypoth-
eses of ThomasS. Kuhn,to whichI have referredin my book
Ideals and Idols: Essays on Valuesin Art and in Art History
(Oxford:Phaidon,1979).
Most books on arthistoryare veryproperlyconcernedwith
individual facts and events rather than with such general
issues. It musthave been my somewhatunusualprocedureof
using historicalmaterialmainlyas evidence for explanatory
hypothesesthat madeTopper'lose the forestfor the trees'. I
had thoughtI had erecteda sufficientnumberof signpostsin
the forest, and the numberof readerswho managedto follow
the trailinto and out of the wood reassuresme thatI was not,
perhaps,recklesslyoptimistic.
E. H. Gombrich
19 BriardaleGardens
London,NW3, England