Ever look at a famous, revered work of art and say "I don't get it"? Me too. I need to learn how to look at paintings . . . and Mary Acton's book is a good introduction. Using plenty of examples, she dedicates chapters to:
- composition ("the artist's method of organising a subject, of deciding what to put in and what to leave out in order to make an effective picture"). Here, she looks at lines like horizontals and verticals, harmony and balance, curves and diagonals, and more.
- space ("the creation of the illusion of three dimensions on a flat surface"). Things like linear perspective, geometrical space, aerial perspective, distortion, and disorientation.
- form ("the feeling of volume in a painting")
- tone ("the contrast between light and shade in a painting")
- color (primary and complementary colors, how colors contrast (degree of brightness, etc.))
- subject matter (learning the historical/cultural background and the original physical setting/frame of a picture to more fully understand and appreciate its messages)
- drawing and its purposes (it's not just about sketching for painting prep)
- looking at prints (lithographs and related styles)
Her goal is to give readers the basic understanding and vocabulary to analyze art.
This book is valuable; it gave me some fresh insights and things to look for. Some things hadn't occurred to me- like the importance of the brushstrokes and surface itself (it may be deliberately layered or rough; impossible to convey in a print), the original setting (could have been a church, and part of a larger series of pictures), and other things. On the downside, by necessity all examples are reproductions (can't work artistic surfaces into a book) and most are black and white (keeps costs down, but makes it harder to understand her analysis). I learned a bit, but some art (especially modern/abstract) still baffles me.
Rating: B+
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