How to Look at Art

Looking at art can be daunting.

What I want to bring you here, are a few tools to help you observe a painting and get more out of the experience.

The tools I’d like to share: questions.

Questions and prompts can be powerful tools to help you think. They direct your attention and can be levers to help you understand what you already know. You can become a better observer by merely posing questions.

So — to help you become a better observer and have a deeper experience with a piece of art, here are some questions you can ask yourself when standing in front of a painting.

I encourage you to find a work of art that appeals to you and work through these questions — either in writing or just in your head.

I’d be willing to bet you’ll have a more enjoyable experience. You’ll likely see and notice way more than you would without these questions.

And therein lies their power.

Fortunately — the power of questions works for other things besides art observation.

I’m a question-hunter and work every day to find the best questions & prompts to cultivate better thinking. What I find gets included in the ever-growing library at Templates for Thinking.

So check that out if you’d like more questions to spark new thought and productively direct your attention.

For more insights into practical art observation, I encourage you to check out Mary Acton’s book “Leaning to look at paintings”. The book is a great “how-to” book that helps the novice deepen their experience of art, and enhance their observational skills.

Finally — a personal ask:

If you have any favorite questions or prompts, I’m dying to hear them. (Whether they are related to art or otherwise)

I’d love it if you could share them in the comments below — thanks!