For his inauguration as President of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger organized a series of symposia, one of which concerned “Perception, Memory, and Art” (Oct. 3, 2002). It was on this occasion that I first presented a preliminary version of the ideas developed in this book under the title “Steps Towards a Molecular Biology of Memory: A Parallel Between Radical Reductionism in Science and Art.” A modified version of this talk subsequently appeared in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences as “A Parallel Between Radical Reductionism in Science and Art” (2003).
The beholder’
s share is discussed in the context of figurative art in Eric Kandel,
The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain from Vienna 1900 to the Present (New York: Random House, 2012), particularly chapters 11–18 and the references therein. The beholder’s response to Cubist art is discussed in Eric Kandel, “The Cubist Challenge to the Beholder’s Share,” in
Cubism: The Leonard A. Lauder Collection (Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014). I also relied on material discussed in
Principles of Neural Science, 5th ed., edited by Eric R. Kandel, James H. Schwartz, Thomas M. Jessell, Steven A. Siegelbaum, and A. J. Hudspeth (New York: McGraw Hill, 2012). Finally, I have drawn further on a number of historical and contemporary sources listed in the references.
I have benefited greatly from the comments and criticisms of a number of colleagues and friends. In particular, I am indebted to Tom Jessell, my colleague at Columbia; to Emily Braun and Pepe Karmel, two gifted art historians; and to Thomas Albright, a visual neuroscientist, for their thoughtful and detailed criticisms of two earlier drafts of this book. I have also had the benefit of helpful comments from Tony Movshon, Bobbi and Barry Coller, Mark Churchland, Denise Kandel, Michael Shadlen, and Lou Rose. I thank my colleagues Daphna Shohamy and Celia Durkin for calling the construal-level theory to my attention. I am once again deeply indebted to my wonderful editor Blair Burns Potter, who worked with me on my two earlier books and brought her critical eye and her insightful editing to this volume. I am also indebted to my long-term colleague and collaborator Sarah Mack for her help with the art program and with parts of the text. Finally, I am much indebted to Pauline Henick, who typed the many early versions of this manuscript with patience and care, and obtained permission for all the works of art.