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La psicología de una escritora de arte
An openly lesbian, feminist writer, Vernon Lee—a pseudonym of Violet Paget—is the most important female aesthetician to come out of nineteenth century England.
Though she was widely known for her supernatural fictions, Lee hasn’t gained the recognition she so clearly deserves for her contributions in the fields of aesthetics, philosophy of empathy, and art criticism. An early follower of Walter Pater, her work is characterized by extreme attention to her own responses to artworks, and a level of psychological sensitivity rarely seen in any aesthetic writing. Today, she is largely overlooked in curriculums, her aesthetic works long out of print.
David Zwirner Books is reintroducing Lee’s writing through the first-ever English publication of "Psychology of an Art Writer" (1903) along with selections from her groundbreaking "Gallery Diaries" (1901–1904), breathtaking accounts of Lee’s own experiences with the great paintings and sculptures she traveled to see. Ranging from deeply felt assessments of the way mood affects our ability to appreciate art, to detailed descriptions of some of the most powerful personal experiences with artworks, these writings provide profound insights into the fields of psychology and aesthetics. Her philosophical inquiries in The Psychology of an Art Writer leave no stone unturned, combining fine-grained ekphrases with high fancy and dense abstraction. The diaries, in turn, establish Lee as one of the most sensitive writers about art in any language.
With a foreword by Berkeley classicist Dylan Kenny, which guides the reader through these writings and contextualizes these texts within Lee’s other work, this is the quintessential introduction to her astonishing and complex oeuvre.
Though she was widely known for her supernatural fictions, Lee hasn’t gained the recognition she so clearly deserves for her contributions in the fields of aesthetics, philosophy of empathy, and art criticism. An early follower of Walter Pater, her work is characterized by extreme attention to her own responses to artworks, and a level of psychological sensitivity rarely seen in any aesthetic writing. Today, she is largely overlooked in curriculums, her aesthetic works long out of print.
David Zwirner Books is reintroducing Lee’s writing through the first-ever English publication of "Psychology of an Art Writer" (1903) along with selections from her groundbreaking "Gallery Diaries" (1901–1904), breathtaking accounts of Lee’s own experiences with the great paintings and sculptures she traveled to see. Ranging from deeply felt assessments of the way mood affects our ability to appreciate art, to detailed descriptions of some of the most powerful personal experiences with artworks, these writings provide profound insights into the fields of psychology and aesthetics. Her philosophical inquiries in The Psychology of an Art Writer leave no stone unturned, combining fine-grained ekphrases with high fancy and dense abstraction. The diaries, in turn, establish Lee as one of the most sensitive writers about art in any language.
With a foreword by Berkeley classicist Dylan Kenny, which guides the reader through these writings and contextualizes these texts within Lee’s other work, this is the quintessential introduction to her astonishing and complex oeuvre.
- GenresArtNonfictionPhilosophy
82 pages, Paperback
Published December 9, 2022
19 people are currently reading
281 people want to read
About the author
Vernon Lee
446 books122 followersViolet Paget, known by her pen name Vernon Lee, is remembered today primarily for her supernatural fiction and her work on aesthetics. An early follower of Walter Pater, she wrote over a dozen volumes of essays on art, music, and travel, poetry and contributed to The Yellow Book. An engaged feminist, she always dressed à la garçonne, and was a member of the Union of democratic control.
Her literary works explored the themes of haunting and possession. The English writer and translator, Montague Summers described Vernon Lee as "the greatest [...] of modern exponents of the supernatural in fiction."
She was responsible for introducing the concept of empathy (Einfühling) into the English language. Empathy was a key concept in Lee's psychological aesthetics which she developed on the basis of prior work by Theodor Lipps. Her response to aesthetics interpreted art as a mental and corporeal experience. This was a significant contribution to the philosophy of art which has been largely neglected.
"The Lie of the Land", in the voume "Limbo, and other Essays", has been one of the most influential essays on landscaping.
Additionally she wrote, along with her friend and colleague Henry James, critically about the relationship between the writer and his/her audience pioneering the concept of criticism and expanding the idea of critical assessment among all the arts as relating to an audience's (or her personal) response. She was a strong, though vexed, proponent of the Aesthetic movement, and after a lengthy written correspondence met the movement's effective leader, Walter Pater, in England in 1881, just after encountering his famous disciple Oscar Wilde. Her interpretation of the movement called for social action, setting her apart from both Wilde and Pater.
Her literary works explored the themes of haunting and possession. The English writer and translator, Montague Summers described Vernon Lee as "the greatest [...] of modern exponents of the supernatural in fiction."
She was responsible for introducing the concept of empathy (Einfühling) into the English language. Empathy was a key concept in Lee's psychological aesthetics which she developed on the basis of prior work by Theodor Lipps. Her response to aesthetics interpreted art as a mental and corporeal experience. This was a significant contribution to the philosophy of art which has been largely neglected.
"The Lie of the Land", in the voume "Limbo, and other Essays", has been one of the most influential essays on landscaping.
Additionally she wrote, along with her friend and colleague Henry James, critically about the relationship between the writer and his/her audience pioneering the concept of criticism and expanding the idea of critical assessment among all the arts as relating to an audience's (or her personal) response. She was a strong, though vexed, proponent of the Aesthetic movement, and after a lengthy written correspondence met the movement's effective leader, Walter Pater, in England in 1881, just after encountering his famous disciple Oscar Wilde. Her interpretation of the movement called for social action, setting her apart from both Wilde and Pater.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 2, 2021
Honestly this just makes me want to visit the paintings and statues in the Uffizi Gallery and reference Vernon Lee’s AMAZING shade she threw at some things. Late Victorian / Early Edwardian queer shade is WONDERFUL. But at the very least have Google handy to see what artworks she is writing about in the majority of the book.
The first essay finally allowed Aesthetics as a principle to click for me and makes me want to read more ekphrasis type readings.
Read more about art! It’s FUN.
The first essay finally allowed Aesthetics as a principle to click for me and makes me want to read more ekphrasis type readings.
Read more about art! It’s FUN.
November 17, 2024
Need to re read with a highlighter and an army of tabs
September 16, 2023
bastante interesante si os interesa la estética, las ideas de belleza y fealdad y cómo procesamos cognitivamente una obra de arte
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December 23, 2023who cares
January 1, 2024
start and end of this book were so good !! loved being introduced to german empathy theory in a casual well thought out way. diary entries in the middle were a bit of a slog but paid off
July 20, 2025
As usual this book I've found while walking on the hood. Combination of pretentious name Vernon, topic "psychology" and a tiny bit over 100 pages length made this a target for my hate read. So I thought. It turned out that it is not some white dude writing about a thing that he has nothing to say, avoiding topic of rich parents. No! I was/is an idiot and Vernon is a lovely and incredibly smart lady, who is dead. So instead of hate-read that was a pleasant time to borrow mind to someone who thought in a same ways as me (art is about body more than anything) but millions times smarter. She filled each page with delicate and sharp self-observations in regards of perception of art. beauty and ugliness. So read her! Don't read me and shit I am trying to pass as a review!
November 27, 2025
bastante complejo para lo que expone (lo cuál me hace dudar si es que no lo he entendido todo o si, en efecto, sólo es una manera enrevesada de escribir sobre ideas bastante sencillas y asentadas).
la moda de publicar libros bajo el concepto "ensayo mini" que sólo son partes incompletas de libros más extensos, para otro día. este libro son dos capítulos de dos libros diferentes de la autora, que aunque relacionados entre sí, sólo son un esbozo de ideales totales, intuyo, más complejas. (Te lo comento porque no lo pone en ningún sitio de la contracubierta, no vayas a creer, como yo cuando lo compré, que esto era un único ensayo, corto ok, pero con cierre.)
la moda de publicar libros bajo el concepto "ensayo mini" que sólo son partes incompletas de libros más extensos, para otro día. este libro son dos capítulos de dos libros diferentes de la autora, que aunque relacionados entre sí, sólo son un esbozo de ideales totales, intuyo, más complejas. (Te lo comento porque no lo pone en ningún sitio de la contracubierta, no vayas a creer, como yo cuando lo compré, que esto era un único ensayo, corto ok, pero con cierre.)
June 1, 2023
Nunca había leído nada sobre arte y experiencia estética desde la perspectiva de la psiquis personal. Me ha encantado su diario de galerías, museos y exposiciones de arte aplicando a la par ideas esteticistas clásicas, teorías psicológicas y journaling puro y duro.
Sus apreciaciones me han parecido muy inteligentes, uniendo cabos de forma inesperada, original, fresca. Me gustaría verlas más desarrolladas porque aquí se aprecian meras pinceladas, pero sin duda me ha despertado el gusanillo de la curiosidad.
January 22, 2025
En el caso de que alguien conozca a Vernon Lee será por sus relatos de terror gótico. Su faceta como ensayista es aún más oscura. Por eso se agradece este pequeños libro. Es un buen comienzo para internarse en sus ideas sobre el arte. Lo único malo es que es un libro muy corto. Se compone de un primer capítulo de su ensayo “Psicología de una escritura de arte” y una pequeña selección de sus “Diarios de galería”. Me ha sabido a poco; me hubiera gustado leerlos completos. Aún y todo muy recomendable para seguir descubriendo a esta fascinante mujer.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews