3/23/22

Art for Dummies is a book in the popular series. It discusses the idea of building up your ‘eye’ for art and becoming a Connoisseur. So it talks about delving into the art world and provides plenty of samples and pieces. This is probably for the best since I don’t know what to look for in a piece of art. I am quite the uncultured swine in this case. I can tell you that something looks cool, or interesting, but that is about it. Take the Mona Lisa for example. All I can see is a picture of a Smiling Woman. Other people will see different things, and that is what makes it art I suppose.

As with all books in the Dummies series, to begin it defines the topic it deals with. What exactly is art? As such, art is confusing to many since it is so subjective. You can have art that is feces on a canvas, though that is more of a joke of mine than anything. Along the way, we are treated to some art history that starts with the Lascaux Caves and goes through the ages up to the modern period. The author, Thomas Hoving, gives examples of each period that he mentions and each area of interest. So let’s take Mesopotamia for example; he talks about Sumer, Akkad, Lagash, Assyria, and Neo-Babylonia. Hoving gives the dates that these people were making art and in power and talks a bit about what the pieces were made of and what they look like. Not all of the pieces mentioned have images, so when he talks about a statue found in the city of Nippur that is made of Gypsum and inlaid with shell and precious stones you have to use your imagination a bit.

Once Hoving gets into the Renaissance Period he begins to name the artists that made the pieces and talks about spotting fakes and replicas over originals. He makes Bullet point lists about everything, so it is pretty easy to take in.

So if you ever wanted to learn how to do those things or become a collector of some kind, this book is a good point to begin at. I mean, the author even states that the best way to be good at looking at art is to look at a lot of art. It makes a sort of tautology, but this makes sense. I mean, the best way to get good at reading is to read a lot and to examine what you have read. ( )