The psychology of art according to W.R.D. Fairbairn.

A possible relational reading

In his two papers Prolegomena to a Psychology of Art and The Ultimate basis of Aesthetic Experience, both published in 1938, the Scottish psychoanalyst W.R.D. Fairbairn exposes what, in our opinion, can be chronologically considered as the first psychoanalytic theory of orientated art, unlike what happened until then in the writings on the same subject by Sigmund Freud or other Authors of those times, no longer from a "drive" vision of Psychoanalysis, but according to what is now, and at least for some decades now, defined as "Psychoanalysis of Relationship". This article therefore seeks to highlight both the fundamental elements of this innovative vision and, in particular, some of the aspects of it that could, today, be further analyzed for a real Psychology of Art based on the perspective of "Psychoanalysis of Relationship", with some final considerations on the relevance of this approach in contemporary clinical practice.