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Jul 27, 2016 · Berenson believed that Giotto was a “supreme master in stimulating tactile consciousness.” This is because, according to Berenson, Giotto was able to achieve what the painter must achieve, which is the construction of the third dimension.
What does it mean to represent the sense of touch in the visual arts? And how might a painting represent the tactile? These are questions Marion Thain will address by exploring Bernard Berenson’s theory of ‘tactile values’, engaging closely with some pictorial examples to elucidate it.
rection of Berenson's idea of "tactile values." Berenson was on to something both about painting and about the arts in general. However, he lacked the scientific evidence about touch and its role in human relationships needed to develop his idea of tactile values to any great extent.
By integrating a Morellian examination of anatomical details with a Symondian aesthetic sensitivity to the artist as revealed through his work, Berenson arrived at his concept of “artistic personality” and a seemingly certifiable science of connoisseurship.
He published Italian Painters of the Renaissance (as separate essays 1894–1907) which developed the theory that the ‘tactile value’ of a work of art stimulated in the spectator a state of increased awareness; Italian Pictures of the Renaissance (1932); and works on history, aesthetics, and politics.
Helmholtz is widely regarded as the most famous 19th century proponent of Berkeley’s theory, his version often being summed up with the phrase that depth perception is based on an »unconscious inference« that associates visual and tactile sensations. 17 Cited in Brown: Berenson and ›Tactile Values‹ [note 7], 108. 18 Ernst Gombrich: Art ...
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Berenson had developed the notion of “tactile” values and “life-enhancing” qualities that became a standard of excellence for him. Even Picasso, such an extraordinary draughtsman, was hardly acceptable to him, and in that case they both belonged to nearly the same generation.
