How does the brain see? Can we better understand how are brain works by examining the perspective of the artist?

1. AND

2. Inside Out:
Art and the Brain
Monica K. Crane, MD
Director of Research, Cole Neuroscience Center
Stephen Wicks
Curator, Knoxville Museum of Art
10/25/16 at KMA

3. 3
Why visual art?

4. Humans see differently
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5. 5

6. HOW DO WE SEE?
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7. After the Mona Lisa 8, 2010
Devorah Sperber (American, born 1961)

8. Are you really seeing?
A normal, healthy brain is not
accurate.

9. 9
Seckel, The Ultimate Book of Optical Illusions, 2005. “Purves and Lotto’s Perspective Illusion.

10. 10
Laws of the visual brain govern the
visual world.

11. 11

12. Baustopp, 2010
Ulf Puder (German, born 1958)

13. What do we see?
Lifetime of visual
experience
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14. We look for patterns.
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15. Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald, 1968
Beauford Delaney (American, 1901-1979)

16. Mother and Child, circa 1925
Catherine Wiley (American, 1879-1958)

17. Part II:
KMA Collection—Case Studies

18. Catherine Wiley (American, 1879-1958)

19. Mother and Child, 1913
Catherine Wiley (American, 1879-1958)

20. Close up view
Catherine Wiley (American, 1879-1958)

21. Mother and Child, circa 1925
Catherine Wiley (American, 1879-1958)

22. Close up views
Catherine Wiley (American, 1879-1958)

23. 1913:
•Uniform brushwork
• Idyllic setting and facial expressions
• Bright colors
• Faces lit by reflected sunlight
Circa 1925:
• Turbulent, thick brushwork
• Vacant, detached expressions
• Sober colors
• Faces in shadow, dim interiors
Catherine Wiley (American, 1879-1958)

24. Theories as to what triggered Wiley’s mental collapse:
• The deaths of her father (1919) and dear friend Lloyd Branson (1925).
•The repeated rejection of her admission into the National Academy of Design between
1915 and 1925.
Catherine Wiley (American, 1879-1958)

25. Beauford Delaney (American, 1901-1979)

26. Beauford Delaney
Delia Delaney, 1933
Photograph of Delia, circa 1910
Beauford Delaney (American, 1901-1979)

27. Portrait of Imogene Delaney, 1963 Portrait of Ella Fitzgerald, 1968
Beauford Delaney (American, 1901-1979)

28. Scattered Light, 1964
Beauford Delaney (American, 1901-1979)
close up

29. Close up view of Monet, Haystacks, 1891 (right)
Beauford Delaney (American, 1901-1979)

30. Before 1950:
• Descriptive marks
• Recognizable likeness with expressive touches
• Variety of colors
• Highlights and shadows convey subjects in space
1950-on:
• Turbulent, thick brushwork
• References to the physical world diminish
• Fiery, brilliant colors
Beauford Delaney (American, 1901-1979)

31. After the Mona Lisa 8, 2010
Devorah Sperber (American, born 1961)

32. Devorah Sperber (American, born 1961)
Stainless-steel ball chain and
hanging apparatus
1482 spools of thread
Clear acrylic sphere
and metal stand

33. Devorah Sperber (American, born 1961)

34. Devorah Sperber (American, born 1961)

35. Baustopp, 2010
Ulf Puder (German, born 1958)

37. Close up views

38. Close up views

40. QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER
• How do stylistic factors reflect not just the artist’s depiction of the visible world
but of their internal emotion/mental landscape?
• How does the brain perceive electronic reproductions of art versus encountering
them as physical objects?
CATHERINE WILEY AND BEAUFORD DELANEY:
• What external/internal factors contributed to changes in their painting style?
• Do the changes we observe reflect significant changes in their brain health?
• What role did their art serve as an outlet or buffer for their illness?