by Ernst Combrich
In four talks Sir Ernst Gomhrich considers the Psychological and philosophical origins of present-day attitudes towards tHe idea of ' the primitive ' in the practice and criticism of art.
3: Priority of Pattern
' In consistency of design those who we have been almost too apt to regard as savages arc infinitely our superiors.'
This contemporary comment on the Great Exhibition of 1851 illuminates the growing appreciation for non-European art in the 19th century. Sir Ernst discusses the resulting clash in Western Art between the values of design and those of naturalism.