Thus Gestalists described perception as a process that involved not just the object but also the context as perception of objects is affected by what surrounds these objects so to Gestaltists, things are always 'more than the sum of their parts'. As art is also primarily about perception, our perception of any art object would depend on these Gestalt principles as well and we tend to see continuity or closure or even perceive movement in static objects. Gestalt psychology has been used extensively to describe and understand 'visual illusions'. For example, objects which are situated closer to each other will be perceived as forming a group. If you've seen some of these pictures that explain the principles of Gestalt, you'll quickly understand that there is more to art than simple brush strokes; art is as much a process of perception (including illusion) as it is a process of creation. If an artist successfully creates a visual illusion, he is almost like a magician. Yet art has several dimensions in its study and explanation and from Gestalt understanding of form and structure that provides a 'structural' explanation of the organizational principles of art, we have to understand the 'functional' features of art as well. This in turn is provided by psychoanalysis and symbolism.

In the early 20th century Sigmund Freud pioneered the study of art in its psychoanalytic form by considering the artist as essentially a neurotic who deals with his psychic pressures and conflicts through his creative impulses. Freud was interested in the 'content' or subject matter of art that reflected the inner conflicts and repressed wishes of the artist and art to Freud as to any psychoanalyst today is considered as essentially a projection of the artist's mind and thought process. Freud believed that unconscious desires and fantasies of the artist makes way from the internal and manifests as the external on canvas through art. Thus if an artist fantasizes about beautiful virtuous women, he paints angels in heaven as a sort of 'sublimation' of his deeper wish. Thus any art work is directly related to the artist's inner world and his unconscious regions of the mind.

One school of art that was directly influenced by the Freudian theory and directly manifests the unconscious is Surrealism which began in the early 20th century, initially as an offshoot of a cultural movement, Dadaism. Surrealism emphasizes on the integration of art and life and Carl Kruse Art Profile with psychoanalytic influences focuses on the unconscious desires. From the psychology of Jacques Lacan to the philosophy of Hegel, Surrealism was largely shaped by philosophy, psychology and cultural changes and has been one of the most revolutionary movements in the history of art. 

Some of its famous proponents were André Breton and more recently Salvador Dali. In fact Dali's work could be seen as almost a visual representation of Freud's emphasis on dream analysis, unconscious desires as well as hallucinations and free association. Sexual symbolism, an important part of Freudian analysis has been extensively used by surrealists. Freud and surrealism highlighted a closer link between madness, sexuality and art but this sort of portrayal met with some opposition as well. On the other hand, Carl Jung's psychoanalysis and emphasis on art as a form of cultural expression was more acceptable to some artists and Jung remains as the most influential psychoanalyst in art history with his optimistic and constructive portrayal of art. According to Jung, art and other forms of creative endeavor could access the 'collective unconscious' and provide considerable insights on not just the process of creativity but also the cultural elements in the mind that are carried across generations. In Jungian psychology art as a psychological process would be an assimilation of the cultural experiences of the artist so it is accessible to an wider community.

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