Lincoln Perry – Seeing Like an Artist
An illustrated gallery talk
I wrote a book I hoped to call Stealing From Museums, though the editor wisely worried that it
would end up in the crime section of bookstores, so it’s now called Seeing Like an Artist. I’ll be
talking about the recurrent theme of the book; how I learn from looking at art,
whether in museums, galleries or in the hundreds of art books I’ve squirreled away. Presumably
we all respond to art emotionally and/or intellectually, but some may not be as intrigued by the
formal underpinning of images, or have an unfortunate prejudice against certain kinds or
periods of art. I’ll show some paintings I’ve learned from, pointing out structural choices that
may not be obvious, but can be revelatory and useful. Perhaps we can read paintings not just as
stories told but as an almost musical carving of fictive space.
would end up in the crime section of bookstores, so it’s now called Seeing Like an Artist. I’ll be
talking about the recurrent theme of the book; how I learn from looking at art,
whether in museums, galleries or in the hundreds of art books I’ve squirreled away. Presumably
we all respond to art emotionally and/or intellectually, but some may not be as intrigued by the
formal underpinning of images, or have an unfortunate prejudice against certain kinds or
periods of art. I’ll show some paintings I’ve learned from, pointing out structural choices that
may not be obvious, but can be revelatory and useful. Perhaps we can read paintings not just as
stories told but as an almost musical carving of fictive space.
