THE CULTURE VULTURE
Volume 2
Let’s talk a bit today about visiting art museums.
As people who have been involved in the arts all our lives, we love visiting museums and probably spend at least a third of our time in major cities in them. But we also recognize that for someone who doesn’t know anything about art, paying 22 Euros at the Louvre just to stand with the crowd hanging around the Mona Lisa doesn’t make a lot of sense. But there are plenty of ways to get more out of an art museum visit even if you don’t know a lot about art.
- Don’t try to see everything. Allow some time at the beginning of your visit to plan your itinerary and prioritize. Study the map. Ask Museum staff which are their favorite exhibits. Some quality time in front of fewer works will stay with you longer than walking past as much as you can without really interacting with the art.
- Do not just look for the famous pieces. For one thing, they will usually be crowded and you will see less. For another, you may miss some beautiful piece that means more to you.
- As you enter a room, find a piece that catches your eye. Before looking at the title, artist or description, spend some time just looking at it. What is your first impression? What adjectives would you use to describe it? Don’t try to form a conclusion about what it “is,” just notice what it says to you.
- Next, try and figure out what the artist has done to give you that impression. If there are people in the picture, try to do this first without analyzing facial expressions. For example, maybe there are cool colors which give a peaceful feeling. Or the piece is strongly balanced which conveys stability. Remember that in good art, everything in the work has been placed deliberately to convey the artist’s message.
- Is the artist guiding your eye toward a specific spot in the work? This can be done by pointing objects toward the focal point, making the focal point a different color, or placing it in a position of power. Why is the artist directing your gaze there?
- If you’re looking at a sculpture or other three-dimensional work, is the piece meant to be seen from one side only? Or are there insights you can gain from looking at it from different angles?
- After you have spent some time with the piece, now’s the time to look at the descriptive information (if there is any). How are your impressions confirmed or changed by knowing more about it?
- If you don’t like something, move on. You don’t need to like everything. Even the famous stuff.
- Don’t forget to bring your phone and a notebook to the museum. That will help you explore even more when you get home.
One thing to remember. Your task is not to “get it.” We’ve been led to believe that there is just one correct interpretation of every piece of art and that you are supposed to understand what that is or you fail. This well-meaning but mistaken notion has kept millions of people from engaging with art, in museums or elsewhere.
I think it was composer Stephen Sondheim who once compared a good work of art to a Microsoft Office product. There are several layers of understanding in (for example) Word. People who don’t know much about using computers can still use Word productively even just to type letters or print things. At deeper levels of understanding, users can learn how to format pages, insert pictures, use templates, and so forth. And, if you want or need it, the software has many additional levels to serve even the most proficient users.
So it is with art. Good works of art will provide satisfaction to a newbie on a first viewing, and a seasoned art lover on her hundredth. One example for me is Michelangelo’s masterpiece, David. I have admired David most of my life because of his sheer beauty and the skill of the sculptor. When I was in my late 40s, I saw David in person (as it were) at the Accademia Gallery in Florence. I was in awe of his stature and size, and the little details such as musculature and fingernails. I was able to see him from the side and back which gave me additional information. And, thanks to a wonderful tour guide, I learned a lot about Michelangelo’s process that completely changed the David game for me. After that, David became a part of my lectures in my Understanding the Arts college classes, and I continued to learn more as I observed my students’ interpretations of the work.
Have I given you permission to go to an art museum? Have I given you permission to look art a bit differently? I hope so!