# The Story of Art (Gombrich)



## New2writing (Mar 5, 2015)

Hello to all, 

Has anyone here ever read "The Story of Art" by Gombrich? I went to an art class the other month and ended up having a three-hour with the instructor, touching upon numerous topics. I came to the conclusion, during the course of this meeting, that perhaps I was rushing my desire to draw and paint, failing to take in the pleasures of the path one might take to 'get there'. I expressed this during the meeting and said that perhaps I should concentrate on learning about the history of art. The abovementioned book was then recommended to me. I am only about 100 pages in (of around 650!) and I'm finding it to be truly fascinating and inspiring. 

I'd be interested if any of you have read this and what your thoughts on this are.


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## escorial (Mar 7, 2015)

never read it but would like to discuss art though


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## New2writing (Mar 9, 2015)

I'm at the beginning of this book, concentrating on 'primitive art', where its purpose wasn't necessarily to entertain or please the eye. It got me thinking about why I like drawing. I think that it was initially to impress, I felt proud and wanted everyone to see what I'd created. However, it's evolved since then. It went on to answer questions within, I would draw to communicate my own emotions to myself. This became a journey of self-discovery. Then I realised that, it's the act of drawing which pleases me the most. As opposed to rushing to get to the end, I am finding that the path is far more rewarding. This slows the pace down and makes what I am creating seem more of a genuine representation of what I am trying to communicate through my art. I am adopting this same process in my writing. I like my pieces 'drawings or writing) to have a purpose behind it.


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