“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off ourselves.”
–PABLO PICASSO
Welcome to the Art History Blog, where you’ll find brief, to the point posts all about art history. And not the boring stuff, either, but those fun anecdotes that only a really spunky docent can tell you. So if you’ve ever been intimidated by an art museum, fear not: we think anyone can look at art and try to figure it out, the same as any art historian, and we want to help you do it.
“The job of the artist is to deepen the mystery.”
–FRANCIS BACON
We should point out that part of the joy of art history (yeah, we’re art nerds, so we call it joy — you’ll get there too) is that there is no right answer. This can be frustrating, but also wonderful–it’s why ANYONE can get it. All you need are the right tools to look at art, so that instead of just passing by or glazing over a piece, you can really see it.
“There is only one valuable thing in art: the thing you cannot explain.”
–GEORGES BRAQUE
You might not be able to explain everything (though tell that to the art historians out there and you might be in trouble), but with those looking tools and a few facts under your belt, you can start to scratch the surface of what you’re looking at the next time you go to a museum or stumble across a painting you like. We hope that reading a few articles here at this blog just might help you appreciate that value that Braque is talking about, probe the mystery Bacon mentions, or at the very least, brush some of the dust off of your life.
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About the Authors
Chelsea and Alexander are recent graduates of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and are both museum professionals.