Does a Museum Visit Really Require Homework?

That's what The Washington Post recently advised in a long article that was supposed to take the anxiety out of art:

Our response to art is directly proportional to our knowledge of it. In this sense, art is the opposite of popular entertainment, which becomes more insipid with greater familiarity. So study up. Even 10 minutes on Wikipedia can help orient you and fundamentally transform the experience...When visiting special exhibitions, always read the catalogue, or at least the main catalogu...