Art Book Club: How To See: Looking, Talking, and Thinking About Art by David Salle
How To See: Looking, Talking, and Thinking about Art
by David Salle
★★★☆☆
Before I read this book, I didn’t often read critiques of artwork- it’s just not something I sought out. Now I’m hungry for more, as the art critic lets me see clearly how non artists view art. The differences between how an artist performs their work and how their viewers absorb it is vast. Rather than teaching you how to look at art, this book shows you how much you don’t know about looking at art. Is that paragraph pretentious enough? Ha! Here’s my review:
The title of this book is misleading. If you were thinking about picking up “How To See” in hopes of learning exactly that- you won’t find it. This book excels at writing about art and does so through 27 essays about a wide range of fine artists, most of whom are the authors long time friends. However, you wont find any direct instructions or exercises in the art of looking.
With such a snappy title and well designed cover, the contents of the book feel disappointing. I don’t want to be click baited when I pick up a book. After you get past the feeling that this book is false advertising, the essays in this book are pretty good.
“As human activities go, change is hard; for an artist to depict it is even harder.”
David Salle, Page 70
I started reading this book start to finish, but after 3 or 4 essays I jumped to chapters about artists that I was already familiar with. I recommend reading this book with easy access to the internet, as you’ll want to look up photos of the art Salle is talking about while reading it.
My favorite essay is the one about Jeff Koons, titled “The Art of Childhood”. Salle has a deep knowledge and familiarity with Koons’ work and is able to talk about his chrome sculptures in relationship to lesser known paintings with ease. I’ve only known about Koons’ balloon sculpture art from modern art history classes and had to look up images of the rest. That said, when you read Salle’s essays, he makes you feel as if you do know about the entirety of an artists collection. His words make you feel like you are a part of the clique- and that’s good writing.
“The line in art between the good, the accomplished, and the popular has been more or less erased in the national mind. The new mind has it that what’s popular- by definition that which has attracted a sizable audience, or the most attention in the press- is ipso facto, the best. ... If you believe that, there’s nothing I can do for you.”
I’m giving this book 3/5 stars and would recommend it to readers who are already familiar with the fine art world.
Next book:
Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland
We will be discussing this book March 13, 2022 on Twitch!
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