Looking at art at the David C. Driskell Center (2020)

How do people understand a work of art just by looking at it? How can I figure out an artwork’s meaning? 

Whether you’re an art historian, visiting a museum, or seeing artwork on social media, there are several steps you can take to fully understand a piece of art. Let’s start with the basics. 

When you’re looking at a work of art, there will almost always be information about the title, the artist, and the year it was made. Look at that information. Ask yourself: 

Let's use these questions to analyze the painting below. 

Depicts a face; primarily red, pink, and purple in the center, surrounded by canvas.

Self Portrait 2012.03.001.PNG

The Driskell Center

Self Portrait

, and see if we can start understanding this work of art. 

Some of this information was very helpful, and some of it wasn’t. That’s okay. Also, you may not know anything about the artist, or the artwork might be untitled, and that’s okay too! Not every work will be easy to understand, but we can learn to do our best. That’s what makes looking at art a 

 - with patience and practice you can become an art expert. 

Time for you to practice on your own! Use the painting below to practice these steps. What can you figure out about an artwork from just its basic information? 

Abstract painting with white shades on the bottom half and pink shades on the top half. It has a circle at the top to represent the sun.

Sunshine Frozen.PNG

Sunshine, Frozen

Asking ourselves these questions is the starting point for understanding artwork, but it is definitely not where we stop! Continue to the next module, 

, to continue learning about looking at and understanding art. 

Standards for Looking at Art, Step 1: The Basics