What do you look at when you look at art books?
The New York Times’ chief art critic Michael Kimmelman’s recent column, “At the Louvre, Many Stop to Snap but Few Stay to Focus,” has generated a lot of buzz lately. For the article, Kimmelman observed visitors at the Louvre over the span of several hours and discovered that almost no one he saw contemplated a single piece of art for more than a minute. Tourists, he argues, use museums as quick therapy.
The more art that an average visitor can cram in, the more accomplished he or she feels while checking an obligatory museum visit off the must-see list.
Hundreds of people have piped in with comments since the article was published on August 2. One reader explained that while it is impossible for every work of art to speak to you during a trip to the museum, one or two will usually stand out. Once they capture your attention, you will naturally spend more of your time in front of those special pieces. Another observed that most museums were built during the pre-modernism and modernism eras, not structurally matching the patterns of life in the 21st century.
Which begs the question: if visitors most typically experience museums as a series of quick snapshots rather than spending a lot of time poring over a single painting, how might these same people respond as readers of art books?
How do you, as a reader or producer of art publications, engage with the books themselves, and what is that little thing that compels you to buy, instead of browse, at your local museum bookstore? Leave us a comment with your thoughts.
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