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How to look at a painting / Françoise Barbe-Gall ; [translated from the French by Stewart Spencer].

by Barbe-Gall, Françoise.

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Frances Lincoln Limited, c2010.

Painting -- Appreciation.

Art appreciation.

Art criticism -- Study and teaching.

9780711232129 (pbk.)

0711232121 (pbk.)

Comment regarder un tableau. English

311 p. : col. ill. ; 22 cm.

Originally published in French in 2006.

Includes bibliographic references (p. 306-307).

Observing a simple reality -- Contemplating the sublime -- Analysing distortions to the visible world -- Taking account of what appears confusing -- Getting over the shock of our first impression -- Abandoning ourselves to the gentleness of a painting.

Which of us, when finding ourselves in the presence of a painting, has not sensed that we lack the keys to decipher it? We feel an emotional response, but the work still seems to evade our understanding. Francoise Barbe-Gall takes as her point of departure the impressions that we all feel when confronted by a canvas and takes us on a voyage of discovery fired by her own passionate enthusiasm for the subject. What is the painting's relationship with the real world? Has the artist idealized nature, or distorted it? Did they want to shock the viewer, or provide consolation? With a clear approach and straightforward yet subtle analysis, the meaning of each work slowly becomes clear. Featuring thirty-six fascinating works from Raphael to Rothko, Breughel to Bacon.

Spencer, Stewart.

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