Art as the Evolution of Visual Knowledge, 1948

Biederman's first, longest and most influential book places his core theory in a broad historical context with ties to numerous other disciplines. This is one of the seminal manifestoes of twentieth century art theory, as relevant today as when it was published over half a century ago. Biederman's lively and opinionated writing adds spice to the already engrossing content. Contains numerous black and white illustrations and diagrams. AEVK is currently out of print but appears regularly on rare and used-book websites.

"It may be imagined, however, that whatever the linguistic state of the artist, this need not have any effect upon his art. This of course is delusionary. One of the main objectives of this book will be to show the crucial interdependence that exists between what man thinks and says and what he experiences and makes as an artist." (page 11)

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Letters on the New Art, 1951

Excerpts of letters from Biederman to a young artist, Joan Saugrain, dating from 1946 to 1951. Biederman explains key elements of his theory in an informal setting. Currently out of print but occasionally available on rare and used-book websites. A second edition is under consideration for late 2001.

Reprint is now available.

"To observe nature is not unlike observing the works of the great contemporary artists who are in the line you are working for, in that the more you come to know nature and these artists, the more you will see in them: you will see things that will overwhelm you and the great temptation will be to make one great leap in order to achieve these things in your art, instead of waiting till you have earned the possibility of achieving what you have seen by developing yourself to a place where you can and are able to do so." (page 26)

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The New Cézanne, 1958

In this tribute to the great French master, Biederman argues that Cézanne has been generally misunderstood and was in fact working actively toward a non-representational "art of pure creation" based completely in the direct observation of nature. This contradicts the traditional view which considers Cézanne the "father of modernism," and implies that Biederman himself is Cézanne's sole legitimate heir. The book speculates that Cézanne used mechanical aids in devising his compositions, a position which Biederman later recanted. Numerous black and white illustrations. A second edition is planned for 2001.

"Cézanne offers us a positive alternative to the negative, tragic fatalism of Neoplastic theory and art. The vision of nature as process, which Cézanne almost alone built across the full scale of vision, can be continued. Art has only begun to reap the experience and knowledge of the way opened by Cézanne. "There are doubtless in nature," he says, "things which no one has seen. If an artist discovers them, he breaks a path for his successors." (page 58)

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Search for New Arts, 1979

The best summation of Biederman's theory since AEVK, "Search for New Arts" exposes the weaknesses of traditional modernism and presents the Monet/Cézanne/Biederman progression as the only valid response to the "mimetic crisis" of the nineteenth century. SNA pulls architecture and the photographic arts into the mix as well, with lengthy sections on Frank Lloyd Wright, John Root, Matthew Brady and D. W. Griffith. Numerous illustrations, including some fine color reproductions of Biederman's own work. A good introduction to Biederman's art and theory.

"In the rest of this essay I will continue to refer to "new art " as a general label for the efforts of all artists who have searched for the new since Moreau and Monet. Accordingly I will present my own views of a new art by reversing the usual practice, i.e., adopting a label I will share with all the "new" arts that have appeared since the demise of mimesis. Such a general label has the important advantage of putting the emphasis upon the general effort, calling attention to the general problems, which all arts seeking the new must share alike." (page 67)

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Art, Science, Reality, 1988

The first of Biederman's later paperbacks, "Art, Science, Reality" presents an extended essay arguing against the limited mechanistic and reductionist attitudes of Galileo, Newton and Einstein and favoring the broader, humanistic views of Leonardo, Goethe, and Whitehead.

"The very survival of human life now hinges on recognizing the relevance of visible nature so long denied by science." (page 63 )

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The Dehumanization and Denaturalization of Modern Art, 1992

A four-part essay tracing the various responses to the Mimetic Crisis from Symbolism through Surrealism and Neoplasticism. These movements are characterized as dehumanized and denaturalized, and shown in stark contrast to the nature and perception based work of Monet and Cézanne. The essay concludes by expanding on the themes developed in "Art, Science, Reality," arguing that science must "become a humanity" to transcend its current limitations and address the totality of human experience.

"Science thinks to know only what is predictable. Art views the world as a ceaseless process of becoming, where all goes beyond the short reach of even predictability. Where the observed and the observer are perpetually changing each other, perceptually. Art deals with the reality beyond measure." (page 89)

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Nature, Art, Anew, 1993

Selections from Biederman's private journals, with entries dating from 1959 to 1990. The book provides a unique look at the artist's unfiltered responses to nature, recorded on-the-spot from the hill behind his rural farmhouse in Red Wing, Minnesota. A refreshing departure from the compelling but theory-laden books that preceded it.

"Out of the endless possibilities of the laws of nature there flows from the simple base a creative growth into the freedom of spatial realization, of all the entities, into one grand unification that is nature." (page 131)

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The End of Modernism, Figurative or Abstract, 1994

Taking up where "Nature, Art, Anew" leaves off, "The End of Modernism" transcribes selected journal entries made while working in the studio and dating from 1983 to 1992. The book includes a preface arguing once again for the primacy of Cézanne's art, and a postscript with further thoughts on the relationship between art and science.

"The wonderful thing about a work of creation, whether in nature or by man, is the possibility of a special experience for each unique individual, but in which all individual experiences are related.", "Those that turn their backs to nature will not prevail. Nature will prevail." (page 82)

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Art Mirrors Psychological Humanizing Experience of Reality, 1996

This books contains the journal entries Biederman made while working on his final series of reliefs, which was set aside prior to completion due to failing eyesight. Though the subject matter wanders widely as it follows Biederman's day-to-day concerns, a general theme is developed speculating on the way in which perceptual input is processed through the eye-brain to the subconscious, percolating up to the conscious mind in the form of intuitions from which the unbiased individual can derive humanized truths about the nature of the reality that stimulated the original perception.

"The evolvement of consciousness of the unconscious is so central to perception, that the unconscious is forever a participant of all we do."
( page 145)

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Art as the Humanization of Science, 1997

This is the first book written after Biederman was forced to give up his pursuit of artmaking due to failed eyesight. Like all the later books it presents a compilation of journal entries made originally for Biederman's personal use, but published later with the idea of recording his developing ideas for posterity. Again the content wanders widely, elaborating on the psychological ideas presented in the previous book and including some speculative musings on the future of music, but as the title suggests, the primary theme centers on the idea that only through the reality-seeking methodologies of the arts can the sciences achieve the humanized perspective required to overcome the destructive influences of our technological society.

"The truth does not lie to you. Beauty is truth and truth is beauty."
(page 99)

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Visual Art Humanifies the Sciences, 1998

This slim volume contains virtually all of Biederman's journal entries for 1998, printed in a large font with generous spacing. At the age of 92, even writing had become a major effort. Themes from earlier books are revisited, with an emphasis on child development prompted by the birth of close friend's first child.

"All my notes are a compilation of ever lasting correction of my search for the truth of evolvement. It is not a matter of a 1-2-3 development of numerical convenience to a perfectionism that is not within our reach. (page 26)

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Re-birth of Humanization Leading to the Re-birth of what Paul Cézanne called the Beginning of a "New Art" of "Only Creation," 1999

Another slim volume of journal entries, with the typeface growing even larger as Biederman's eyesight deteriorated to near blindness. Familiar themes are revisited in often summary pronouncements driven by the excruciatingly laborious task that writing had become. Believing this to be his last publication, Biederman chose to "close as I began in the 1930s," with a tribute to the artist he admired most, Paul Cézanne.

"In all aspects of Nature the asymmetry of non-identity reigns. Thus the past opens the gateway to the future of non-identity." (page 35)

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The Visual Millennium: Leonardo to Cézanne, 2000

A series of discussions with a friend reconstructed as a brief essay and preserving as much of Biederman's original language as possible. The essay develops the idea that the true significance of the millennium lies in the legacy of the artists who dedicated their lives to furthering an understanding of reality grounded in a simple acceptance of natural truths made apparent through the direct perception and unquestioning acceptance of what nature put before them. On the back of Biederman's copy of this pamphlet he wrote "At last I am one with Nature."

"To understand Nature's actuality, we must simply accept without question perceptually what we see with out imposing our own arbitrary agenda of verbalisms." (page 3 )

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