Richard Arthur Wollheim (5 May 1923 − 4 November 2003) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

noted for original work on

mind The mind is the set of faculties responsible for all mental phenomena. Often the term is also identified with the phenomena themselves. These faculties include thought, imagination, memory, will, and sensation. They are responsible for various m ...

and

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. ...

s, especially as related to the

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...

s, specifically,

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

. Wollheim served as the president of the

British Society of Aesthetics The British Society of Aesthetics (BSA) is a philosophical organization founded by Herbert Read in 1960 to promote the study of aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and tast ...

from 1992 onwards until his death in 2003.

Biography

Richard Wollheim was the son of Eric Wollheim, a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

, and Constance (Connie) Mary Baker, an

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

who used the stage name Constance Luttrell. He attended

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, London, and

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

(1941–2, 1945–8), interrupted by active military service in World War II. In 1949 he obtained a congratulatory first in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and began teaching at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, where he became Grote Professor of Mind and Logic and Department Head from 1963 to 1982. He retired from that position to take up professorships, first, at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(1982–85) and then the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

(1985–2002). He chaired the Department at UC Berkeley, 1998–2002. On retirement from Berkeley, he served briefly as a guest lecturer at

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. Additionally, he held visiting positions at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Graduate Center, CUNY The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the C ...

, the

University of California at Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

, and elsewhere. Wollheim gave several distinguished lecture series, most notably the Andrew M. Mellon lectures in Fine Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1984), published as ''Painting as an Art''. In 1962, he published an article "A paradox in the theory of democracy", in which Wollheim argued that a supporter of democracy faces a contradiction when he votes. On the one hand he wants a particular party or candidate to win, but on the other hand he wants whoever wins the most votes to win. This has become known as

Wollheim's paradox Wollheim's paradox is a problem in political philosophy that points to an inherent contradiction in the concept of democracy. The paradox highlights the fact that a person can simultaneously advocate two conflicting policy options A and B, provide ...

. His ''Art and its Objects'' was one of the twentieth century's most influential texts on philosophical

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

in English. In a 1965 essay, '

Minimal Art Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or conc ...

', he seems to have coined the phrase, although its meaning eventually drifted from his. As well as for his work on the philosophy of art, Wollheim was known for his philosophical treatments of

depth psychology Depth psychology (from the German term ''Tiefenpsychologie'') refers to the practice and research of the science of the unconscious, covering both psychoanalysis and psychology. It is also defined as the psychological theory that explores the rela ...

, especially

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

's. His posthumously-published autobiography of youth, ''Germs: A Memoir of Childhood'', with complementary essays, discloses a good deal about his family background and his life up to early manhood, providing valuable material for understanding his interests and sensibility.

Personal life

Wollheim married Anne Barbara Denise (1920-2004), daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel George Powell, of the

Grenadier Guards "Shamed be whoever thinks ill of it." , colors = , colors_label = , march = Slow: " Scipio" , mascot = , equipment = , equipment ...

, after her divorce from her first husband, the literary critic

Philip Toynbee Theodore Philip Toynbee (25 June 1916 – 15 June 1981) was a British writer and communist. He wrote experimental novels, and distinctive verse novels, one of which was an epic called ''Pantaloon'', a work in several volumes, only some of whi ...

. They had twin sons, Bruno and Rupert. Their marriage was dissolved in 1967. Wollheim married Mary Day Lanier in 1969; their daughter is Emilia.

Publications

For an extensive bibliography of Richard Wollheim's publications by a professional bibliographer, see Eddie Yeghiayan's UC-Irvine site. See also the 'Philweb' listing. Note: given his unique mind, personality, and distinctive writing styles, along with his curiosity and sociability, many of Richard Wollheim's publications are outside academic categories. Besides books, he published many articles, in journals and edited collections, book reviews, and gallery catalogues for shows. He also left writings in manuscript, letters and recordings of his talks. ;Books and separately published works (selected) *''F. H. Bradley''. Harmondsworth; Baltimore: Penguin, 1959. 2d edition, 1969.
Socialism and Culture
. (Fabian Tract, 331.) London: Fabian Society, 1961. *'On Drawing an Object'. London: University College, 1965 (long essay). Repr. in ''On Art and the Mind''. *''Art and Its Objects: an Introduction to Aesthetics''. New York: Harper & Row, 1968. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1970. As Harper Torchbook, 1971. *
Art and its Objects: With Six Supplementary Essays
'. 2d edition. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1980. *''A Family Romance''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1969. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1969 (novel). *''Freud''. (

Fontana Modern Masters The Fontana Modern Masters was a series of pocket guides on writers, philosophers, and other thinkers and theorists who shaped the intellectual landscape of the twentieth century. The first five titles were published on 12 January 1970 by Fontana ...

.) London: Collins, 1971. Paperback, 1973. American and later Cambridge University Press (1981) eds. titled ''Sigmund Freud''. *''On Art and the Mind: essays and lectures''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press,1972. *'The Good Self and the Bad Self: the Moral Psychology of British Idealism and the English School of Psychoanalysis Compared' (1975)—repr. in ''The Mind and Its Depths'', 1993. *'The Sheep and the Ceremony' (1976)—repr. in ''The Mind and Its Depths'', 1983. *''The Thread of Life''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1984. *''Painting as an Art''. Andrew M. Mellon Lectures in Fine Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1987. *''The Mind and Its Depths''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993 (essays). *''On the Emotions''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1999. *''Germs: a memoir of childhood''. London: Waywiser Press, 2004. ;Edited books *''The Image in Form: Selected Writings of Adrian Stokes'' (1974) *''Freud: A Collection of Critical Essays'' (1974) *'' Philosophical Essays on Freud'', with James Hopkins. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. *''R.B.Kitaj : A Retrospective'', with Richard Morphet. London: Tate Publishing, 1994. ;Selected articles *"Minimal Art", ''Arts Magazine'' (January 1965): 26–32. Repr. in ''On Art and the Mind''. *"Nelson Goodman's Languages of Art", ''The Journal of Philosophy'': 62, no. 16 (Ag. 1970): 531. *"Adrian Stokes, critic, painter, poet", ''Times Literary Supplement'' (17 February 1978): 207–209. *"The Cabinet of Dr Lacan", ''Topoi'': 10 no. 2 (1991): 163–174

*"A Bed out of Leaves", ''London Review of Books'' 25, no. 23 (4 December 2003)

Notes

External links

''The Guardians obituary

Arthur Danto Arthur Coleman Danto (January 1, 1924 – October 25, 2013) was an American art critic, philosopher, and professor at Columbia University. He was best known for having been a long-time art critic for ''The Nation'' and for his work in philosophi ...

''The Daily Telegraphs obituary
(Archived by

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)
''The San Francisco Chronicles obituary

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090522145409/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/philosophy/former-students/wollheim.htm UCL obituary– PDF format
Bruce Vermazen, ''Richard Wollheim Remembered''
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