Ernst H. Gombrich on Abstract Painting

Abstract

Ernst H. Gombrich criticized abstract painting with several remarks scattered around his wide oeuvre. I argue that his view of abstract paintings is coherent with the account of pictorial representation he put forward in Art and Illusion, show some limits of such view, and maintain that, although several of Gombrich’s criticisms of abstract painting should be rejected, some of his remarks are insightful and worth of consideration.

Keywords

• Ernst H. Gombrich
• abstract art
• pictorial representation
• “making and matching”