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Some of its famous proponents were AndrГ© 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. Thus the psychology of art as it develops to a major discipline and area of study could be considered as having two distinct branches - o Structural Psychology of Art - that which emphasizes on the 'structural' aspects of perceiving art through form, organization as understood with Gestalt principles and general emphasis on structure, also with the principles of physiology and visual perception o Functional Psychology of Art - that which emphasizes on art as a creative process representing the 'functional' aspects or mental dynamics of the artist, the content rather than the form and could be understood with the insights of psychoanalysis and phenomenology. The structural branch relates mainly to the perceiver and the process of perception of art and the functional branch relates to the artist and the process of creation of art. Both these dimensions would be equally important and complement each other in a comprehensive conceptual psychology of art. Reflections in Psychology - Part I - by Saberi Roy (2009) Saberi Roy - Books Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Saberi_Roy
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