Publications
Tvár prírody. Teória antropomorfizmu vo výtvarnom umení
HAĽÁK, Miroslav: Tvár prírody. Teória antropomorfizmu vo výtvarnom umení. Bratislava, Petrus 2021, 398 p.
Clouds in the sky resembling living beings, branches instead of hands, and tree bark resembling a human face; shadows evoking fantastical figures or blades of grass like strands of hair—and many other situations that seem to be the product of the imagination—play a very important role in the visual arts. The book *The Face of Nature* seeks to explain this phenomenon that inspires the transformation of reality. Why did the anthropomorphization of inanimate objects spark a revolution in art? How is it possible to distinguish a real object from an illusion in images from art history? The theory of anthropomorphism, developed in this publication, addresses the question of how we liken our surroundings to forms familiar to us. Particularly noteworthy is the relevance of this issue, which cuts across cultural history and constantly inspires the creation of otherwise nonexistent connections between humans and their surroundings.
The book also includes Hermann Hesse’s short story “The Painter” (published in Slovak for the first time). This full-color publication is part of the IDEA series.