Opinion:
7/2/2008
When I see a good painting-
A picture is worth a thousand words at least, and when I see a good painting it's like being smashed in the face by a good book. Maybe it's in Spanish, or Russian. Either way, I read it all in an instant. Maybe then I start smiling and go back to read it again, this time more slowly, more carefully. Maybe I'm stunned, and start feeling for the lump in my throat, wanting someone else to see what I see. Maybe I sit down and sketch it in a notebook.
Joan Miro
I look at a painting close-up to see how it was made and what has been painted over. I look at a painting from far away to see how it interacts with the room. I blur my eyes, and look at the lights and darks, at the shapes they make. I study a painting in great detail and over a long time. It reminds me not be hasty with my own work, which I often have been.
Alberto Giacometti
In a painting, I look for what idea the painter is exploring, and try to see what they have learned. A free lesson, I think, about painting or about something more important than that. Maybe it's a math lesson. Maybe it's a parable.
Jasper Johns
I look for the artist's voice to find out whether there is a deliberate message or whether the painting is a decoration. I imagine a painting as a conversation between painter and canvas - sometimes it's a heated discussion, sometimes it's chit-chat.
Pablo Picasso
I look for innovation in a painting, for something I haven't seen before. Art as research. The artist considers a new idea and stretches it out like canvas, usually uncovering more questions than conclusions. It's the role of the artist to be perpetually curious and to give the philosophers and authors and scientists something new to think about. It's art as progress.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Get art.