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Lot #617
Ross Macdonald

“Mona Lisa’ is in effect Leonardo’s portrait of the Great Mother”

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“Mona Lisa’ is in effect Leonardo’s portrait of the Great Mother”

Pseudonym of Kenneth Millar (1915–1983) who is known for his hardboiled novels featuring private detective Lew Archer. Handwritten review entitled Two Jungian Theorists of Art, two lined pages, 8.25 x 11, signed at the top, “Reviewed by Kenneth Millar.” Millar reviews two books about psychological theories of art. In part: “Erich Neumann is a Berlin-born psychoanalyst who studied under Carl Jung…His extensive writings on art and literature have drawn heavily on the Jungian theory of the collective unconscious…The work of Leonardo da Vinci, both artistic and scientific, is interpreted in terms of the ’vulture fantasy’ to which Freud alludes…Neumann would have us believe that ‘Mona Lisa’ is in effect Leonardo’s portrait of the Great Mother. He offers similar theories about the painters Hieronymus Bosch and Marc Chagall, and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke…Mr. Streatfeild’s book…seems rather innocent of any real psychological training. The author appears to have stumbled, with an air of happy surprise, on the discovery (which Freud and Jung made available a generation ago) that fiction derives from the fantasy life, and that the source of this fantasy is the unconscious mind.” In fine condition, with binding holes to the left border (one with a slight tear), light toning to the edges, and a number of original corrections and notations. RRAuction COA.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: November Monthly
  • Dates: #395 - Ended November 14, 2012