What is it about an artwork that is important for its appreciation? Is it a degree in art history or knowledge about the artist and the text written by a curator? Or is art appreciation more about our ability to connect with a work of art?

The act of seeing is innate, as John Berger puts it in his seminal work Ways of Seeing, “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognises before it can speak.” So, how should we look at art? This dilemma has plagued scholars and philosophers for centuries, dating back to Plato’s theory of mimesis, which explored the nature of art, explaining that art is an imitation of the real object that inspires it. He viewed art as being two times removed from the real world; it represented an idea, not reality, hence placing it below the category of craft.

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Left: Author at a gallery exhibition, 2023. Right: Author giving a heritage walk at NGMA, 2024. Photographs from the author’s personal collection.

What’s interesting in this theory is that art becomes an idea, a representation of form, an image of the world filtered through the artist’s perception. Hence, art in itself is a theorised postulation that carries historical legacy, personal stories, and a layered cultural context.

There is a certain kind of unsaid expectation that one understands art and to do so only as per the textual knowledge that scholars have done. The art of meaning-making that is vested in museums and galleries is always rooted in a premise that comes from a place of authority.

Conversely, what we see and how we perceive things is influenced by our knowledge and beliefs, forming a connection between what we see and ourselves.

How art is shaped by its surroundings, museums and archival data

Since we are on the topic of visual arts, museum spaces become a pertinent area for us to explore. There are two main questions that arise when we enter the museum space: what is the function of the space, and how does this space contribute to art historical discourse? The space holds countless images and artefacts that have outlasted their original function. They become testimonials for the history and how they were viewed when they were first made.

What is the not-so-subtle context of these artworks, and why are they in a museum? This brings into question the role of art history, whether it is a tool to interpret or a way to legitimise ideas.

We rarely stop to think about what we’re actually there to do when we visit museums or art galleries. Yet, it is the simple act of looking at art that constitutes its meaning.

Reading an artwork is an instinct that has always been present in the cultural ethos. To admire aesthetic aspects of a painting, to revere the beauty of nature, all these impulses have always been there, but understanding a modern piece of work calls for a little more discernment. When we enter a gallery or a museum, we are expected to like certain aspects of a piece of work, not just the precision of imitation, but what goes beyond the painterly skills. This has more to do with the subject matter, the stylistic choices, the history of the artwork, and unavoidably, the patronage of the work, signalling a more deliberate and complex social, cultural, and political narrative behind the work.

Art doesn't exist in a vacuum: the power of societal conditions producing it

To understand this, let's talk about works on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi. As we enter the section dedicated to Academic Realism, we see a category in fine arts that defines art styles that closely follow classical Western ideals of painting and European aesthetics. This was a direct result of the art schools that were established in the 19th century in Madras, Bombay, and Calcutta. The initiative was a part of British efforts to inculcate an ideology around art and aesthetics that could be commodified. The works presented here are mainly by the Bombay artists - namely Pestonjee Bomanjee, M F Pithawalla, S L Haldankar, Jamini Prokash Gangooly and Hemendranath Majumdar.

Once we start observing the artworks, we have to understand that they reflect a certain class of artists who were able to afford the fees to these institutions and hence were able to find a place amongst the strata of connoisseurs and patrons who would want to give them commissions. The institutionalization of art was one of the big reasons why Pithawala became famous among the British in England.

When we read these works of art, we read them through an art historical, sociological, and political lens, which goes beyond aesthetics. Furthermore, when we place these artworks in a museum space, they become part of a country's archive.

Another poignant factor in NGMA, is the placement of works from the Bengal school juxtaposed against the Bombay realists, delineating how different schools (Bombay and Bengal) were reacting and envisioning their space in Colonial India. In their choice of medium, Bengal school artists like Abanindranath and Gaganendranath Tagore situated their visual language in East Asian Ideals, using wash techniques with gouache and watercolours for compositions influenced by Indian Miniature painting traditions. Thus, we are reading the choice of media and subject matter that portray the ethos of the Indian Freedom Movement via more oriental cultural productions.

Left: Photograph of Abanindranath Tagore. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Right: Rabindranath in the Role of ‘Blind Singer’ Abanindranath Tagore, 1916, an example of wash technique employed by the artist. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Renowned art historian Ernst Gombrich, in his influential work The Story of Art, points out that there is no art, and only artists who produce the narratives of society and culture through their perception. Hence, art is a product that is always going to reflect deeper stories. During the act of observing an artwork, the gaze takes precedence as it defines the creator and the spectator simultaneously.

The role of gaze in art appreciation and interpretation

Throughout the history of art, the prevalence of the male gaze in visual media and the place of a woman in those artworks, constitute the textual essence of a piece of art. One of the most intriguing examples of gaze could be the works by Hemendranath Mazumdar and his portrayal of women, which present a visage constructed through colonial gaze. The depiction of women as ideals of classical beauty clad in wet sarees with porcelain skin is laden with a voyeuristic gaze. John Berger, while discussing the positioning of women in visual narratives, succinctly explains, “Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at.”

The art of reading women in artworks is always going to be governed by gender roles and societal conventions.

Thus, the visual vocabulary employed by Amrita Sher-Gil becomes a radical act. Viewing the world through her eyes, Sher-Gil was exploring themes of Indian domesticity, analysing facets of female agency, while vocalising her isolation in the process.

Amrita Sher-Gil with 3 paintings, photographed by Sher-Gil, 1930. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

When one starts reading and understanding the meanings hidden in canvases and artefacts, one also looks at the position of the artist and the patrons who are commissioning pieces. This becomes relevant for the pre-modern pieces of Indian Paintings, from Mughal and Pahari painting ateliers where artists hardly signed their works. The iconography in the works became markers for patronage, symbolising the cultural history of the region. The example for this can be the influence of European prints on Mughal artists - the inclusion of Madonna in portraits of Jahangir and incorporating the divine halo christening the sovereign and legitimising his status and place in the empire in the process.

Portrait of Jahangir Holding Flower, Folio from the Davis Album, second half 17th century. Courtesy of MET Museum, New York.

A common thread amongst all the artists and works discussed above is implicit signs and symbols that carry significant meanings that were shaped by the cultural, political and societal narratives. Hence, each artwork is read through a lens of art historical criticality, placing it in the pages of history, highlighting its significance. And with modern means of production, art has never been more accessible to the masses. It can be read in multiple ways now. As John Berger opines, “The art of the past no longer exists as it once did. Its authority is lost. In its place, there is a language of images. What matters now is who uses that language for what purpose.”

Thus, reading an artwork rests upon the following factors: the time period, the artist and their personal world, the political and cultural climate, along with the medium and scale of the artwork. This language can be defined by you and me, and ultimately, it is produced through our own perceptions of the world, derived from our lived experiences on a social and political level.

Historical research is one way to read art. But it is just as important to review the context of that research that is produced and maintained through various institutions of power.

Reading art is never neutral, it is shaped by memory, position and power. The only constant required is curiosity to research and relearn, while one revisits familiar images with novel perspectives.

Banner image courtesy of the author

auster

What we see and how we perceive things is influenced by our knowledge and beliefs, forming a connection between what we see and ourselves.

auster