On Art and Illusion (again) . . .

“For the artist, too, cannot transcribe what he sees; he can only translate it into the terms of his medium.”

“Indeed, the true miracle of the language of art is not that it enables the artist to create the illusion of reality. It is that under the hands of a great master the image becomes translucent. In teaching us to see the visible world afresh, he gives us the illusion of looking into the invisible realms of the mind – if only we know . . . how to use our eyes.”

(E. H. Gombrich, Art and Illusion)