• “Gottfried Richter's Art and Human Consciousness is a significant book
  because it illustrates a way of reading art experientially, whereby the art
  object is an expression of a particular epoch's human experience and
  consciousness, particularly in regard to spiritual experience.”
  —Impressions, 1988

This survey of Western art, from ancient Egypt to Picasso, looks at visual art in a
completely new and imaginative way. Gottfried Richter’s lively and penetrating
obser­vations will inspire and enthuse the novice, while breathing new life into the
thinking of art lovers and historians.
Richter concerns himself broadly with architecture, sculpture, and painting—as
well as mythology and legend—in pre­senting the creations of artist and architect
as an expression of the evolution of human consciousness. In vivid images he
offers the reader interpretive keys to under­stand this process in all areas of
art history. 
Using numerous examples, the author illustrates how human life has undergone
a qualitative transfor­mation as humanity has gradually freed itself from a life
determined by spiritual guidance in order to take hold of the sensory world
and experience free individuality.