The Art of Looking at Art

Gene Wisniewski

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
• Year: 2020
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781538133736
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art General

A readable guide to the art of looking at art.

There's an art to viewing art. A sizable portion of the population regards art with varying degrees of reverence, bewilderment, suspicion, contempt, and intimidation. Most people aren't sure what to do when standing before a work of art, besides gaze at it for what they hope is an acceptable amount of time, and even those who visit galleries and museums regularly aren't always as well versed as they wish they could be.

This book will help remedy that situation and answer many of the most frequently asked questions pertaining to the matter of art in general:
When was the first art made? Who decides which art is "for the ages"? What is art's purpose? How do paintings get to be worth tens of millions of dollars? Where do artists get their ideas? And perhaps the most pressing question of all, have human cadavers ever been used as art materials? (Yup.)
The Art of Looking at Art addresses these and countless more of the issues surrounding this frequently misunderstood microcosm, in a highly informative, yet conversational tone. History, fascinating and altogether human backstories, and information pertaining to every conceivable aspect of visual art are interwoven in twelve concise chapters, providing all the information the average person needs to comfortably approach, analyze, and appreciate art. Readers with a background in art will learn a few new things as well.

This beautiful full-color book includes 45 full-page reproductions.

Table of contents

• The Art
• Deepest Thanks
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Ten Reasons to Appreciate Art
• Chapter 2: The First 95 Percent of Art History
• Chapter 3: From Artisan to Artist
• Chapter 4: “The Place of the Muses”
• Chapter 5: Art versus Life
• Chapter 6: Art Is Where You Find It
• Chapter 7: This Is Your Brain on Art
• Chapter 8: The Thirteen Or So Traits of Creative People (According to Me)
• Chapter 9: Self-Expression for Sale
• Chapter 10: “We the People” as Patron of the Arts
• Chapter 11: Listening to Art, Even When It Isn’t Speaking to You
• Chapter 12: What to Look For When You Look at Art
• Appendix A: Finding Art to Look At
• Appendix B: Prehistoric Timeline
• Appendix C: Timeline of Post-Classical Art Movements
• Selected Bibliography
• About the Author