The visual arts enrich our lives in many ways: bringing innovative ideas and the pleasures of beauty and emotion, but they can also confound. How To Understand Art sets out to enhance the viewer’s experience by breaking down the elements of art and sculpture to provide a firm basis for simple enjoyment as well as further investigation.

With 100 visual examples drawn from across the globe, the stress is on how to assess art objectively – a key skill for any art student, museum visitor or cultural enthusiast. Janetta Rebold Benton guides the reader to re-evaluate their experiences of looking at art by learning to move beyond ‘I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like,’ and shift towards an understanding of ‘why I like it’.

With over 100 colour illustrations, How to Understand Art explores the uses and the limitations of different art techniques and materials also features a section devoted to six key artists who have had a notable influence on the history of art: Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn, Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol. 

Author: Janetta Rebold Benton
Paperback
176 pages
21.6 x 13.8cm