The Story of Art - 1
As part of my personal self-study, I’m currently reading, The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich, published by Phaidon.
The first half of the book serves as the written component, while the second half, contains its corresponding photos.
There are two tassels serving as bookmarks for both sections, making it easy to go back and reference the applicable photo being discussed.
Although encompassing over 1,000 pages, the book is hand-sized, fitting easily into my purse or tote to take with me when out and about.
What I love about being an artist, is that I view my “job” as always being open to the opportunity to “work”—to seek and find inspiration, or have the opportunity to create, something—an idea, a plan, a sketch, or a painting.
I love carrying this book with me often, as a means of learning more about the history of art during my day-to-day life.
The Story of Art by E.H. Gombrich
When I read, I rarely read to complete a book.
I read because I enjoy the thoughts and ideas that the book stimulates.
It could take me years to finish reading a book, solely because I love the process of reading more than the accomplishment of reading the book.
I tend to underline favorited sentences, bracket beloved paragraphs, highlight lines for emphasis, and place hand-written post it notes filled inside the pages, for a joyful anticipated revisitation at a future date.
I can see this being a reoccurring blog post, taking a quote or a pondered perspective and document my thoughts as I dive deeper into the rabbit hole.
There are a million ways a book, a movie, or a conversation could inspire a new perspective or way of seeing that I previously never could have imagined.
A thought that comes from a book, could be small, yet interesting.
Or it could be life-changing.
Either way, with each thought we grow and evolve.
The first quote I noted was Gombrich’s definition of a “work of art.”
“What is more important, it brings home to us that what we call ‘works of art’ are not the results of some mysterious activity, but objects made by human beings for human beings.”
As part of our evolution as human beings, we’ve learned how to not only survive life and create offspring, but we’ve also created time for leisure…
We created time and safety for ourselves, so we could think, dream, imagine, and create.
We literally create worlds for ourselves as a species—objects, buildings, cities, laws, vehicles, (just name a few) that at one point in time, never existed before.
As humans, we are literal Creators.
We’ve unlocked this ability, by stepping back from a survival mode, to a thriving modality.
Art-paintings, sculptures, clothing, as well as communities, cities, governments, schools, buildings, transportation, music, infrastructures, are all expressions of us as artists.
We create things, for us to use and enjoy.
We create things to share with each other, to commune, to celebrate, to connect.
The more I think about art and being an artist, I always think about what it means to be a human.
There is literally no difference.
Sometimes there’s a notion and a viewpoint, that only “some” people are artists.
But, in reality, we are all artists and we are all, art lovers.
The key is to take a step back from survival mode, to take some deep breaths, and bring ourselves back here—in reality—in the present moment.
Open our eyes, and truly see what has always been right here, the entire time.