It’s not rude to stare at art

Why look at art? It can make you feel good. A University of London study demonstrated that looking at beautiful (to the beholder) art can create an instant dopamine release, creating feelings of happiness and gratitude akin to looking at someone you love.

Studies have also shown that looking at art can lower stress, particularly when looking at landscapes and seascapes.

But looking at art, really looking at it, is hard. And instead of delight, we may find ourselves instead feeling curious, annoyed, bored, confused, perhaps even disgusted.

And that’s ok, says London-based art historian Susie Hodge. Author of dozens of books about art, including How Art Can Change Your Life, Hodge encourages people to let art be a conduit for their emotions – whatever they may be.

Even if you don’t know a lot about art or how to look at it, you can benefit from engaging with it. Here are some of Hodge’s suggestions for how to look at art and have a meaningful connection with it:

Keep an open mind

When you open a book about art or, better yet, walk into an art museum, try not to be intimidated by the idea of “looking at art” or have preconceived ideas about how you should interpret it. Some artworks may be surprising, and others boring – that’s ok.

In fact, Hodge says she hears from many people that viewing the Mona Lisa in person is a huge letdown – it’s tiny, behind bulletproof glass, and can be uninspiring.

Let the art be a conduit for your own emotions

When you look at something, take inventory of your emotional landscape – what are your personal connections to it, and what is going on in your life that might affect how you feel? You may not respond in the way you think you should, but that doesn’t invalidate your response.

Pick a museum that feels relevant to your interests

In our region, we have SO MANY great museums to explore – more than 40 in Seattle alone! In addition to visiting, you can support the mission of these museums and cultural centers through the UWCFD:

Beyond paintings on the walls: Find all kinds of art at Seattle Pinball Museum, Living Computers: Museum + Labs, Pacific Science Center, LEMAY—America’s Car Museum, The Center for Wooden Boats, Museum of Flight, Seattle Children’s Museum, Log House Museum, Klondike Gold Rush Museum, Northwest Railway Museum…

Keep your museum visit short and focused

Art museums can be overwhelming: the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., for example, has over 130,000 paintings, sculptures and artworks (put it on your bucket list).

If you spent 15 minutes looking at all 78,000 artworks in the Tate Modern collection, it would take you 12 hours a day for more than four years to look at everything.

And the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York has almost 200,000 works. Let’s not even talk about the British Museum or the Louvre in Paris.

Once you’ve selected the place you want to visit, be realistic about how long you want to spend and how much you’ll see: you don’t need more than a couple hours. After that, looking at art can become information overload and it’s hard to stay focused and retain what you’ve seen.

Really look at the art

Once you’re in front of an artwork you like, what should you do?

Get up close and personal. If you have the luxury of seeing the real thing at a museum, take your time to observe qualities about the work that may not come through on a computer screen:

• Texture: the look and feel of its surface
• Brushstrokes: the marks made by the brush across the surface
• Movement: the path your eyes take when viewing the work

Then, stand back: Look again at the piece from a distance, observing what’s happening in the big picture. What’s going on in the piece? What are the figures (if any) doing? How are they related? What is the action?

Lastly, look at it from an angle. Try looking at an artwork from its sides, because you might catch something you might not have seen straight on.

Any artwork can reward a longer, closer, more thoughtful look. Want more suggestions for how to look? Check out A guide to slow looking from British museum Tate Modern.