May 29, 2009

Manual of Psychology


20" x 20" — Oil/Canvas — 2009
• SOLD

The Manual of Psychology belonged to a law student in 1905. My mother-in-law's mother-in-law was the housekeeper for the gentleman lawyer decades after his schooling. After he passed away, she was given all his books as they were something she admired.

I have the book sitting in front of me. As I casually flipped it open, it landed on a page discussing spacial perception. One hundred and four years ago the student scrawled the word chiaroscuro beside the phrase "The play of light and shade...". I find it curious that I'd flip open an ancient psychology text and by chance fall on a page explaining visual concepts used by artists — the use of light and shadow to create a sense of depth.

Is this book trying to tell me something?