Seeing Like an Artist: What Artists Perceive in the Art of Others

by Lincoln Perry

“Beguiling and informative”— Wall Street Journal

Learn to see art as an artist does. Discover how a painting’s composition or a sculpture’s spatial structure influence the experience of what you’re seeing. With an artist as your guide, viewing art becomes a powerfully enriching experience that will stay in your mind long after you’ve left a museum.

A visit to view art can be overwhelming, exhausting, and unrewarding. Lincoln Perry wants to change that. In fifteen essays—each framed around a specific theme—he provides new ways of seeing and appreciating art.

Drawing heavily on examples from the European traditions of art, Perry aims to overturn assumptions and asks readers to re-think artistic prejudices while rebuilding new preferences. Included are essays on how artists “read” paintings, how scale and format influence viewers, how to engage with sculptures and murals, as well as guides to some of the great museums and churches of Europe.

Seeing Like an Artist is for any artist, art-lover, or museumgoer who wants to grow their appreciation for the art of others.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

232 pages, Hardcover

Published October 4, 2022

Reviews

[Julie Stielstra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long suspected that artists' eyes simply don't work like other people's eyes do. As an old art history major, I've spent a lot of years as (in Perry's words) a "museum junkie," looking and looking and thinking and savoring or hating a lot of art, but I don't have much of a hands-on, working-artist's sense of what do they SEE and how they think about it. Lincoln Perry sets out to explain it, and what a delightful, interesting trip it is. It didn't hurt that he starts out as an irreligious soul transfixed by a wondrous Bellini painting of St Francis, and that I am an anti-religious soul a little in love with St Francis, and his town, and his basilica, and his hermitage in the forest. Perry explores his own epiphanies with multiple works of art as a young man traversing Europe in an old VW bus, scouring museums, churches, cathedrals, monasteries and monuments for art to look at, all kinds of it, and a glorious moment on edge of an Umbrian bluff, deciding HE needed to make art himself.

He shows us paintings and sculptures. He points out how pictures are constructed, of planes and distances and illusions. How colors bring and enhance meanings and significance. How shapes and forms and lines create rhythms and lead your eye inescapably to what the artist wants you to see. He and a friend are delighted to find that a modern abstract painting, a smashed piñata of colors and lines, has a fabulous kinship with a 16th century German battle scene, and he shares their conversation with the reader. The wry and funny Sex and Subtext chapter will open your eyes to (ahem) "holes and poles," and yeah, now that you mention it, they're everywhere! In sculpture, he discusses the dichotomy between a "subtractive" approach (think Michelangelo cutting away marble to reveal the form within the block) and an "additive" approach - layering clay upon a framework - and the differing results. This is not a "how-to" manual by any stretch, but Perry shows us how an artist might consider whether to use a color to model a form from it, or to keep it flat, or how a dark color suggests a hole and a bright color pops out at you. He studies all this, to learn - and teach us - how the planes of a landscape can suggest space, or entrapment, or instability, or an in-your-face shout.

I often (okay, frequently!) complain about art books that have no, or too few, or poor quality, illustrations. It's frustrating (okay, annoying...) to try to understand a piece of visual art if you can't actually look at it. Perry has a neat solution: the illustrations in this book are mostly his own black-and-white sketches - sometimes with notes - of the works he is talking about. It works nicely to demonstrate the elements that caught his attention, and how they're used to accomplish the artist's aims. He also, kindly, has posted on his website color images of the original works of art to accompany the text, saving us from having to google them up ourselves. He has not, unfortunately, included an index in the book, so you'll need to read or skim attentively to see if he talks about a favorite artwork of yours.

The art he shows us runs the gamut from classical Italian Renaissance paintings, Rodin sculptures, ancient Greek marbles, the marvelously theatrical wooden dioramas mounted in obscure churches in northern Italy, to modern sculptures, and some of his own riotous and saturated industrial-strength murals. Some are famous, some are not, some - like an eerie Lamentation by Pontormo - knocked me right out with eerie splendor, and others are dissected and shown to me in a way that made me see them in a new light altogether. What a grand tour. I thank Lincoln Perry for taking me along.

[Bird Barnes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Audio. I went to school for fine art and thought this would be more about ways of seeing and style instead of how one painter interprets different works of art. There was a little technical stuff, but not much.

Basically, ‘Is the black cavernous area in this Rembrandt etching vaginal and suggestive? Or is it just my randy imagination?’
Yes, it’s just you. I don’t see sexy St. Francis remixed with a little crucifixion vision. We have erotic etchings from Rembrandt, he didn’t need to make subliminal porn.

A quote from this book about a Rodin sculpture, “...but she was still one of the sexiest things I'd ever seen. Lacking both lower legs, one arm, and head and only about 15 inches long, the truncated sculpture is simultaneously woman and object, more abstractly sensuous for its amputated compression.”

Some of the interpretations grossed me out, a lot of economic privilege in some of the statements, shoutouts to his wife and her writing career…

It wasn’t what I expected or wanted from the title.

[Farren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was fine. The best part was the two paragraphs dedicated to Bernini’s Ecstasy of St Teresa.

[Edie Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve spent a lifetime devoted to art history, I’ve approached from every which way. But I’m not an artist, so I welcomed an opportunity to look through Lincoln Perry’s eyes.

The author had some wonderful and unique insights. I love the idea of the book and learned a few new things.

However, I did have a few complaints. Perry talked about himself almost as much as he did the art. Fortunately, I liked him, so that wasn’t a problem. Knowing a bit about a person can help in understanding their point of view. But this could annoy some readers.

I took issue with some of his personal speculation.

Then, towards the end, he seemed to go off the rails. There were still some good ideas, but they were rambling.

But the worst offense was the lack of color reproductions of the works under discussion. There aren’t even any black and white photographs (correction--there are two, both works by the author). Instead we get black and white interpretive renderings. This is a huge problem! I don’t know if it was done to save costs or to emphasize the need to see things in person. Yes, reproductions are no replacement for the real thing. But I think some sort of plates would have been helpful.

On the plus side, he definitely got points for his enthusiasm.

[Dodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a start on a good idea. The author is an American painter and he talk about this own experience visiting art gallery. There were some good idea that you could apply to your visits to art galleries. I think the main issue I had was that there was no picture in the book.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The insights were wonderful. This is not a book to be listened to, it must be read in hard copy. I found myself frantically searching the internet for the art being referenced. However, it lives up to the promise of giving the artists’ view of art. And… I liked the author.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me the two things which stood out in his discussion were the importance of seeing a work in person (though sadly the only one I´ve ever seen is Student´s Progress!) and the importance of making notes -- he doesn´t actually make much of a point of this, but it is implied in the presence of his on-site sketches of the works he talks about, used to illustrate his points. The museum visit I most vividly remember was one to the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, where I did take notes, which I have never revised, and can still remember designs, which pieces were contributed by Franz Boas, etc.

[Sun Pacyga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lincoln Perry beautifully writes, yes a book about art, but also a book that makes you think. He connects dots you couldn't think of yourself and shows you his perspective on many topics surrounding art. A truly captivating and creatively inspiring book, it is a great read, especially as an artist myself. Definitely a must read, as you peer into parts of Perry’s life and read his stories, almost like you are there with him too! Overall, amazing book, an entertaining read, and it just checks all the boxes I have !!

[Kevin]

Having a conversation with an artist about how they view art and visit museums is probably an awkward title for a book, but that's the most accurate view. This book isn't a "how-to," as the title suggests, but more something that develops as a long conversation about a passion for art and the process of learning to view and understand art as a lifelong endeavor.
It's a really good book overall, and if the title appeals to you, you will probably enjoy the contents.

[Kristi Mast · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a high 3. I started out reading voraciously and enjoying the writing immensely, however I flagged as the book went on. I find his writing overly sensuous and sexual and his chapters all start sounding the same.
I am inspired to search out the chapel and art of Italy in sitio, and in general, to learn more about the Italian greats.

[Anil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love art and discovering new things, and expanding my vision about different styles. If you are here for the same reason, please skip this book. The writer pours different information from left and right without any reference images or organized content. Ugh!

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have been a 4 if the book had pictures of the art he was talking about.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and informative. I would recommend it.

[Eila Mcmillin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting premise. The actual flow of the writing leaves something to be desired. And sort of lacking in depth but I did find some of the ideas/content useful.