THE PSYCHOANALYST AND THE ARTIST

by Daniel E. Schneider ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 1950

A ""tentative exploration"" of the common ground which exists between psychiatry and art, this is not only of doubtful general interest but is obscured by some ussier psychiatric phraseology (the ""nature of a developing endowment""- the ""creative thrust""-etc.). Vaguely, the identity between art and this science lies in a depth of understanding of the unconscious to which the power of transformation is added, and these qualities reach their clearest relationship in the work of Sophocles and the Oediupus plays. How both psychoanalysis and art uses the power of transformation; the nature of the artistic gift; the syndrome of block or blankness; the narcissistic danger; these the points of discussion which are followed by some interpretations of the Journal of Eugene Delacroix, the painters Chagall, Picasso, van Gogh, and the plays of Arthur Miller. The derivation here is Freudian and at a guess, psychiatrists rather than artists might be interested. We're tentative too.

Pub Date: April 18, 1950

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1950

Categories: NONFICTION