First published 2012
Eric Kandel examines how fin de siècle Vienna became the crucible for modern ideas about consciousness, creativity, and the human psyche. The Nobel Prize winner traces connections between the Vienna School of Medicine's belief that truth hides beneath surface appearances and the work of five pioneering figures. Sigmund Freud developed his theories about repressed desires emerging through symbols and dreams. Arthur Schnitzler used interior monologue to expose women's hidden sexuality in his fiction. Gustav Klimt, Oscar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele painted portraits that revealed unconscious drives and mortality fears. Kandel shows how these innovators influenced the Vienna School of Art History to ask new questions about perception and aesthetic response. He connects their insights to contemporary neuroscience and psychology research. The book demonstrates how Vienna's intellectual ferment produced lasting advances in understanding how we see, think, feel, and create art.
Genres: biography, neuroscience, 20th-century, non-fiction, 21st-century, art-history, academic, history-of-science
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: academic, historical, interdisciplinary
Setting: Vienna
Period: Fin de Siècle
636 pages · Hardcover · Random House