There is a new feature in the New York Times that gives the reader a 10 minute challenge to look at a work of art for 10 minutes to see if you see things you didn't see at first and to get an idea of the mood of the piece. I tried it with the painting they presented in the paper and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. Later that same day, I met a friend at the Western Spirit Museum of the West in Scottsdale so I decided to use a similar practice to look at a piece of art in a new exhibit at the museum.
I don't think I actually studied it for a whole 10 minutes after all, I was in a busy museum, however I did look at for a long time.
The painting is about the Nez Perce Tribe and their expertise in breeding the much admired appaloosa horses.
I looked at all of the details of the painting like this closer look at this fellow surrounded by horses and wearing colorful clothing.
To the far right of the painting I saw this dog watching what is going on and then another dog in the shadows. There is also a woman working on something in the teepee.
To the far left of the painting I see a group of people all going about their daily chores. There is a child playing, a woman carrying a basket on her back and even a little papoose on her mother's back.
I enjoyed this challenge very much. I have always loved art and this is going to change the way I look at artistic pieces. I may end up spending even more time in museums that I do now.
6 comments:
I will have to check that technique out.
It looks very soothing from the way the painting is made
I love this post, Sharon. I am going to give this a try too. You pointed out so many things in that painting.
There is saddle sitting there, ready for the trip home.
Sounds like a great technique.
You picked a good painting to study! There's lots going on. Looks like some meat is being smoked in the center, there?
Ten minutes is actually a very long time to look at a painting. It doesn't sound like much but when you're doing it, you can see a lot in that amount of time.
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