Category Archives: Looking at Art

Looking at art is a skill that is both easy and hard. On one hand everyone knows how to look, but sometimes you have to be trained to know for what to look, and sometimes to notice things that you might not have seen otherwise.

One has to be open to what the artist has to say, and what they have done. On the other hand, one has to actively look, and use past experience as a guide to notice things.

And one must spend time. A great work of art will never yield all its secrets at once. One of the hallmarks of a great work of art is that a subsequent looking, listening, or reading will yield new insights.