ABSTRACT
Visual images are wonderfully efficient ways to communicate ideas. This is good news for artists who wish to create pictures that convey a message to viewers. Interestingly, artists often create compositions to allow for a variety of interpretations. Understanding scientific knowledge about art is analogous to the way medical treatments based on germ theory are more effective than those based on the theory of bodily humors. Art historians may recognize the Impressionist style of the painting and might know that the painting was produced in 1877. In order to communicate their ideas, artists have an intuitive appreciation of how the visual and cognitive systems of their viewers see and interpret images. Knowledge of normal anatomy is needed even when an artist deliberately presents a distorted figure so that viewers can take notice of the distortion. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
