The Biology of Art
1962
First Published
3.20
Average Rating
176
Number of Pages
This fascinating book brings together for the first time all the known facts about the picture-making activities of apes and monkeys, presents certain intriguing relationships between these and human art, and develops six biological principles universally applicable to all arrest from chimpanzees to Leonardo. During the past fifty years thirty-two chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and capuchin monkeys have produced approximately a thousand paintings and drawings without assistance or guidance, and above all without the rewards of food and favor used by animal trainers. For these animals the impulse to paint or draw was not only self-rewarding but usually more powerful than other impulses until they were sexually mature. In 1953, Desmond Morris became aware that the art of apes falls into recurring patterns and that the compositions are visually controlled. Three years later his work at the London Zoo allowed him to study nearly four hundred pictures produced by an enchanting chimp named Congo. As a result, he is able to describe in detail not only Congo's evident aesthetic satisfaction but also four definite principles of compositional balance and harmony. These have a very close relationship to the scribbles of very young children and the paintings of some very modern artists. No ape has yet achieved the simplest representational picture, but Congo clearly reached the distinctive precursor stage found in the scribbles with tantalizing speculations as to what may be demonstrated by further research.
Avg Rating
3.20
Number of Ratings
5
5 STARS
0%
4 STARS
20%
3 STARS
80%
2 STARS
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1 STARS
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Author
Desmond Morris
Author · 46 books
Desmond John Morris (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book The Naked Ape, and for his television programmes such as Zoo Time.
