OPENING OUR EYES TO LEARNING ABOUT ART: A NEW COLLECTION OF 13 ESSAYS BY THE FACULTY OF SOTHEBY’S INSTITUTE OF ART HELPS CRACK THE CODE OF WORKS OF ART- “UNDERSTANDING ART OBJECTS, Thinking Through the Eye”

This new book by the teaching faculty of Sotheby’s Institute of Art shows that the primary purpose of teaching art history is to deepen our understanding and appreciation of the artwork itself by using close observation and a distinctive approach to seeing. With this in mind, the book’s collection of thirteen essays, each describing a different work of art, takes us on a fascinating journey as we decode the works along the way.

The texts are all written to appeal not just to the scholar, the professional and the connoisseur interested in evaluating art but to anyone with an appreciation and genuine curiosity as to what objects mean and what they represent.

In his preface to the book, James Stourton, Chairman, Sotheby’s UK, says “Decoding works of art, as we discover, can take many forms. The first essay is about the creative process and technique, the second introduces us to the history of taste. Others are concerned with the iconography of death and eroticism or the idea of art as a reflection of philosophical ideas.”

The book provides a detailed insight in to the Sotheby’s Institute of Art’s teaching philosophy where emphasis is placed on providing an initial direct encounter with an art object rather than beginning with theory or social history. Each essay focuses on a single, very different work of art, displaying a diverse range and breadth of art works by acclaimed artists ranging from the First century “Jenkins Venus” to contemporary artist Teresa Margolles’ “127 Cuerpos” (127 Threads), 2006.

The book will be launched in London on 28 October, 2009, Price £20.00

Click here to read about the contributors.

Click here to see the contents.

Download the Introduction by Tony Godfrey. (PDF)