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Klein significantly contributed to the refinement of psychoanalytic aesthetics, although she did not actually develop a fully articulated theory of her own as such. She was interested in art and literature and, like Freud, drew on them for the exegesis of her clinical theory, and three of her earlier papers were specifically devoted to the analysis of artistic and creative themes.
At the same time, these foreshadowed what were to be some of her most important concepts: the depressive position (1930) and her account of the inner world and unconscious phantasy. However, as will be shown in the next chapter, it was her pupil Hanna Segal (Klein's main expositor) who first developed a systematic theory of creativity and aesthetics based on Klein's insights. Another important exponent of Kleinian aesthetics was the art critic and historian Adrian Stokes. He was also an analysand of Klein, and successfully integrated Klein's account of infantile experience into his aesthetic criticism. It was largely through the work of Segal and Stokes that Kleinian aesthetics became fully established as a coherent approach to the visual arts and, as we shall explore further in this study, has continued to influence a number of philosophers, writers, and academics.