Looking at Pictures Art Essentials Series

by Woodford, Susan

• ISBN13: 9780500293218
• ISBN10: 050029321X
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2018-05-15
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Summary

Beautifully illustrated with some of the world’s greatest pictures, from cave paintings and Roman mosaics to Picasso and Damien Hirst, this affordable guide explains the art of looking at and understanding pictures, equipping the reader with the vision and tools to approach any museum picture with confidence.Looking at pictures can be an exciting or moving experience, but some pictures—often the most rewarding—require some explanation before they can be fully understood. Delving into the origins, designs, and themes of over one hundred pictures from different periods and places, this book illuminates the art of looking at—and talking about—pictures. Susan Woodford shows how one can read a picture by examining the formal and stylistic devices used by an artist, and she explores popular themes and subject matter, and the relationship of pictures to the societies that produced them.This indispensable guide is supplemented by a glossary of key terms, ranging from art movements and technical terms to religious and classical terminology, to give readers all the information they need at their fingertips.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. Ways of Looking at Pictures 2. Land and Sea 3. Portraits 4. Everyday Things 5. History and Mythology 6. The Christian World 7. Creating Patterns on Flat Surfaces 8. Tradition 9. Design and Organization 10. The Depiction of Space 11. Formal Analysis 12. Hidden Meanings 13. Quality