THE PROBLEM OF FORM

Written in 1907, Hildebrand’s The Problem of Form, offers a theory of the perception of art. With his Architectonic Method, he states that structure is the true problem of art. It is not imitation, as all of Renaissance painting would have you believe. It is not about mere emotion or expression: who cares about expression. It is about getting at holistic truth.

“The crudity of so-called realism in art rests in the fact that this necessary artistic metamorphosis of functional into spatial values has not taken place; the artist has given thought to the truth of his gestures as expressions only.”p112.

Hildebrand is one of the few authors who uses the word “form” as we do: a holistic three dimensional object. He actually highlights the disparity between visual projection and kinesthetic understanding. He goes on to say that our goal is to unify the visual precept and the kinesthetic idea. And that is exactly what we are doing in these pages.

“Since our ideas of three-dimensional form are so largely kinesthetic, it follows that, if the visual projection is to express a spatial content, it must contain suggestion, as least, of movements.” p28.

He states that movement is how we understand form: we already know that. Regarding linear perspective, he offers the phrase “movement into depth.” That is to say, depth on our papers requires movement, and thus time, to become manifest as a kinesthetic idea.

Other conceptual tidbits that are sympathetic with Transparent Drawing include:
-talks about a “total space” and a continuity of space. p64.
-actually states that “we are not cameras.” p117.
-calls into question the false spatial value of the perspective way before Gombrich.
-talks about welding the parts into a whole. p52.
-one form yields an infinite range of perceptions / projections / spatial concepts (which is what Plato said).

Hildebrand is an author who foretells of Transparent Drawing. It is amazing that this was written over 100 years ago. And the problems and solutions that are offered are relevant today. A holistic form drawn transparently on your paper solves most of the Problems of Form.

1. Hildebrand, Adolf. The Problem of Form in Painting and Sculpture. Stechert; New York. 1907.