Abstract
After reviewing theories of art history, a psychological approach patterned upon the lines of the Darwinian theory of evolution is described. It is argued that the basic trends in the history of an art form arise from artists' continual necessity to produce novel works in order to counter the effects of boredom or habituation. This pressure leads to a monotonic increase across time in the novelty, unpredictability, and complexity of works of art. On the other hand, it leads to oscillations in content indicative of primary process (autistic, dreamlike) cognition: Within a style, primary process content increases; however, it declines with the introduction of a new style. Quantitative studies of the history of poetry, painting, and music supportive of the evolutionary study are briefly described.
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