How to Appreciate Art and Look at Art in a Meaningful Way
Note that I am not claiming that there is one correct check-list method of looking at art. I am merely suggesting ways to appreciate and experience art when visiting galleries, museums, and other art exhibitions and displays since this can sometimes be a daunting task.
Most won?t admit it, but they don?t know what to look for so I am here to offer some advice to avoid the two second glance at a visual piece, or the desperate attempt to find clarity in the exhibition label, or the excited face posing for a photograph next to an art piece they admire. There are ways however to fulfill the primary purposes of viewing a work of art- for the pleasure of the eyes, the appreciation and enlightenment a work of art can offer.
The viewing will begin with a powerful quote by Robert Henri obtained from “The Art Spirit” in 1923:
“The man who has honesty, integrity, the love of inquiry, the desire to see beyond, is ready to appreciate good art. He needs no one to give him an art education; he is already qualified. He needs but to see pictures with his active mind, look into them for the things that belong to him, and he will find soon enough in himself an art connoisseur and an art lover of the first order.”
If following his wise words, one is sure to be fully involved with the viewing of a work of art.
Most people will start by meandering or scanning through an artspace, which is perfectly normal. There is no way that anyone can view every piece for several minutes nor are they interested in everything exhibited. Scan the place to see what you are most attracted to and go to that artwork.
Then, try to understand what it is that attracted you to this piece (although beauty attracts many people and many artworks are beautiful, all art isn?t beautiful so this might not be your primary reason for liking a particular piece.)
Look up close and take steps back (circle around it if it?s an installation or sculpture that allows for engagement at more than one special perspective.) Try to understand why a certain medium was used, how it feels like physically and how that relates to the visual product. If a painting look at the brush strokes, the edges between foreground, object and background, the color transitions, where does light come from, and how do you react emotionally to the way the piece presents itself.
If a sculpture or installation walk around it, think about the material, how it was made, how it interacts with the space it?s in, what do the shapes look like, what effect does it have on you the viewer.
After personal interaction with the piece on an emotional and raw level where only you interact according to your primary feelings, it can be helpful to contextualize. This means looking at the exhibition label, does its title reflect, change, or support the way you initially reacted to this art piece? The curators of this exhibit put a lot of care and time in creating the labels or wall panel supporting the artwork through words so it can be helpful to read what their thoughts are as well as your own. Sometimes contextualizing and knowing how the art fits in historically can understand why it was special for its time, why people thought it was so original, and you may learn a bit of art history and ideas also occurring at the time this artwork was produced.
If you really like the artwork, it can help to keep a personal analog of artists or artworks you enjoy for future reference or expansion. For instance, you may want to see upcoming exhibits from this artist to know more about their art, or read up on articles to understand more about the process and what attracted you to their art in the first place. Resources like MutualArt.com are fantastic for this type of artistic personal expansion. This can be useful for students (pretty much anyone who loves art), collectors, teachers, or dealers in the arts.
In the end, once you?ve fully enjoyed a work of art move on to the next one that attracts your interest and you will be surprised to find you may be attracted to it for completely different reasons than the last one. It?s a journey of self-discovery and visual pleasure so enjoyment is key. It?s more important to appreciate new pieces because it will be more memorable than to give essentially two seconds to every artwork in a museum simply because you feel the need to step foot on every floor. It takes patience and personal commitment, but then at least you will have found something you really like and to hold on to.
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