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The Artist's Mind: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Creativity, Modern Art and Modern Artists

Author(s) : George Hagman

Reviews and Endorsements

'Hagman invites the reader to join him on a fascinating and audacious psychoanalytic tour of the minds of significant artists of the 19th and 20th Centuries. Tracing their personal histories he demonstrates how psychological factors contribute to the 'aesthetic resonance' in works of art and architecture. An innovative contribution to the dual fields of art and psychoanalysis The Artist's Mind is an engaging read.'
- Joy Schaverien PhD, Jungian Analyst and Visiting Professor in Art Psychotherapy at Leeds Metropolitan University, UK. Author, The Revealing Image

'... Hagman pursues the development of a novel theory about aesthetics and creativity from self psychology and relational perspectives. He sees aesthetic experience as rooted in idealization of early attachment of the infant to his mother. In the present work he expands his ingenious formulations to Modern art which encourages personal idiosyncrasies, subjective expression, and aggressive abandonment of tradition. In this thoughtful and well researched text, he illustrates his theory by a detailed examination of a number of well known painters including, Degas, Bonnard, Duchamp, Pollock and Warhol. The list is extensive enough to enrich our understanding and appreciation of varied and at times opposing attitudes towards the process of artistic creation.'
- Francis Baudry MD, faculty New York Psychoanalytic Institute

'The author's psychoanalytic readings of the eight artists are compelling like princesses in a fairy tale, each of whom is "more beautiful than the last".'
- Ellen Dissanayake, Author, Art and Intimacy: How the Arts Began and Homo Aestheticus: Where Art Comes From and Why

'The Artist's Mind offers a vitalizing, new analytic perspective on the importance of aesthetics and art as a "dialogue with the world," shedding light on the evolution of modern art through the lives and works of major 20th century artists, and expanding our understanding of art into the 21st century.'
- Carol M. Press, Ed.D. Author, The Dancing Self: Creativity, Modern Dance, Self Psychology, and Transformative Education