The true miracle of the language of art is not that it enables the artist to create the illusion of reality. It is that under the hands of a great master the image becomes translucent. In teaching us to see the visible world afresh, he gives us the illusion of looking into the invisible realms of the mind - if only we know, as Philostratus says, how to use our eyes.


Art and Illusion (1960)

Ernst Gombrich Quotes

The true miracle of the language of art is not that it enables the artist to create the illusion of reality. It is that under the hands of a great...

The true miracle of the language of art is not that it enables the artist to create the illusion of reality. It is that under the hands of a great...

The true miracle of the language of art is not that it enables the artist to create the illusion of reality. It is that under the hands of a great...

The true miracle of the language of art is not that it enables the artist to create the illusion of reality. It is that under the hands of a great...