Artistic expression

References and further reading

These works are not introductory in style, though none is forbiddingly technical or formal.

	Bouwsma, O.K. (1950) ‘The Expression Theory of Art’, in M. Black (ed.) Philosophical Analysis, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 71–96. (Widely reprinted. Classic discussion of a spread of relevant issues. See §3–6 of this entry.)
	Budd, M. (1985) Music and the Emotions: The Philosophical Theories, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Fine discussion of theories of music’s expressiveness and of Hanslick’s denial of such expressiveness; includes a chapter on the nature of the emotions.)
	Budd, M (1989) ‘Music and the Communication of Emotion’, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 47: 129–138. (Considers the connection between expression and value in music and discusses several theories of musical expressiveness. See §5–7.)
	Budd, M (1989) ‘Music and the Expression of Emotions’, The Journal of Aesthetic Education, 23 (3): 19–29. (Reviews various strategies for explaining music’s expressiveness; opts for account making make-believe central. See §6.)
	Budd, M (1995) The Values of Art: Pictures, Poetry and Music, London: Allen Lane, The Penguin Press. (Includes discussions of the nature and value of expressiveness in art with special attention to music.)
	Davies, S. (1986) ‘The Expression Theory Again’, Theoria 52: 146–167. (Criticizes the expression theory and distinguishes modes of expressive behaviour.)
	Davies, S. (1994) Musical Meaning and Expression, Ithaca, NY, and London: Cornell University Press. (Presents a detailed critique of theories of expressiveness in the arts, especially music; defends the account of artistic expressiveness outlined in §4; discusses the value of expressiveness; contains extensive bibliography.)
	Elliott, R.K. (1966–7) ‘Aesthetic Theory and the Experience of Art’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 67: 111–126. (Art is to be experienced imaginatively from within, and objectively from without.)
	Elliott, R.K (1973) ‘Imagination in the Experience of Art’, Royal Institute of Philosophy Lectures, 6: 88–105. (Outlines the ways imagination enters in the experience of art and defends its place there.)
	Gombrich, E.H. (1962) ‘Art and the Language of the Emotions’, Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society Supplement 36: 215–234. (Argues that, in art, the natural dimension of expressiveness is structured by conventions.)
	Kivy, P. (1989) Sound Sentiment, Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. (Includes The Corded Shell (1980), in which he argues that music expresses emotion mainly by resembling expressive behaviour, and additional papers on the topic. See §§3, 6.)
	Levinson, J. (1982) ‘Music and Negative Emotion’, The Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 63: 327–346. (Discusses the value of negative responses to art’s expressiveness. See §7.)
	Nolt, J. (1981) ‘Expression and Emotion’, The British Journal of Aesthetics, 21: 139–150. (Defends arousal theory. See §3.)
	Osborne, H. (1982) ‘Expressiveness in the Arts’, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 41: 19–26. (Outlines the difficulties of attributing expressive properties to art works and argues that music expresses moods, not emotions.)
	Osborne, H. (1983) ‘Expressiveness: Where is the Feeling Found?’, The British Journal of Aesthetics, 23: 112–123. (Outlines the problems of attributing expressive properties to art works.)
	Robinson, J. (1983) ‘Art as Expression’, in H. Curtler (ed.) What Is Art?, New York: Haven, 93–121. (Emphasizes that artistic expressiveness is treated as a communication from the artist, though not as a direct expression of occurrent feelings.)
	Scruton, R. (1983) ‘The Nature of Musical Expression’, in The Aesthetic Understanding, London: Methuen, 49–61. (Regards musical expressiveness as gestural and metaphoric, and distinguishes ‘transitive’ from ‘intransitive’ expressiveness. See §6.)
	Speck, S. (1988) ‘“Arousal Theory” Reconsidered’, British Journal of Aesthetics 28: 40–47. (A defence of arousal theory.)
	Stecker, R. (1984) ‘Expression of Emotion in (Some of) the Arts’, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 42: 409–418. (Holds that the arts differ in the manner of their expressiveness, depending on whether they possess a semantic, representational or other content.)
	Tormey, A. (1971) The Concept of Expression, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (A detailed and sophisticated account of the notion of expressiveness in art; includes extended criticism of the expression theory.)
	Vermazen, B. (1986) ‘Expression as Expression’, The Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 67: 196–224. (Holds that, in ascribing expressiveness to art works, including nonrepresentational ones, we are talking of the emotions of a fictional persona that we locate in the work.)
	Wollheim, R. (1964) ‘On Expression and Expressionism’, Revue Internationale de Philosophie, 18: 270–289. (Discusses the nature of expressiveness.)
	Wollheim, R. (1968) ‘Expression’, Royal Institute of Philosophy Lectures 1: 227–244. (Discusses expressiveness in painting, the artist’s expression of emotion, and the conventions involved in this. See §4.)