Arnheim, Rudolf (1904–2007)

German-born art theorist and psychologist. A pioneering theorist of the psychology of the arts, he is most noted for his influential book Art as Visual Perception (1954), which explores the cognitive basis of observing art.

Arnheim taught psychology of art at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1969–74 and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor from 1974. Other works include Toward a Psychology of Art (1966) and Entropy and Art (1971).