Art. It’s all around us, in the news and on the cultural agenda, but when you go to a gallery do you truly enjoy the latest, supposedly important exhibition or does it wash over you?
Everyone has that experience sometimes. I know I do, and looking at art is my passion as well as my job. For art is not instantly understandable or simple. Enjoying it is, you might say, an art in itself.
The Guardian Masterclasses in art appreciation are all about having fun looking at art. I hope they will provide the expert insights that will enhance the pleasure and understanding of looking at art, from Ice Age cave paintings to the experimental art of the digital age.
We will visit the National Gallery, get an in-depth perspective on the Renaissance, tour the whole of art history and get a feel for today’s art scene. Some of the world’s best critics, curators and artists will lead you through the wonders of art, with speakers including art historian Martin Gayford, author of The Yellow House, Dr Caroline Campbell, chief curator at the National Gallery, and Mat Collishaw, one of the pioneering Young British Artists (YBAs).
In a way, the most important thing we’ll teach is simply the idea that art truly is to be enjoyed. We’re always being told it’s serious, or troubling, or disturbing. Yet in reality, a visit to a great gallery is a mystery tour through time and space that offers sheer freedom and sensual delight, as well as incomparable emotional highs. Insecurity, a feeling of not being somehow equipped to look at certain kinds art, and simply not being used to the quiet and contemplation of a museum can all hinder that amazing pleasure.
These art appreciation Masterclasses will provide a toolkit of knowledge, secrets of the critic’s trade and habits of looking that I hope will hugely enhance every participant’s relationship with the vast world of art. Whether you feel lost in a gallery or are very much at home there but want to deepen or refresh your perceptions, these classes are for you. They are intended equally to stimulate and inform.
Let’s open our eyes together.
Our brand new series of art appreciation classes has been specially curated by Jonathan. Take your pick from four illuminating classes this February
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Twelve masterpieces that shaped art history
Date: Wednesday 3 February | Price: £49
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Understanding contemporary art
Date: Wednesday 10 February | Price: £49
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Art appreciation with Jonathan Jones: An evening at the National Gallery
Date: Friday 19 February | Price: £89
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Understanding Renaissance painting
Date: Tuesday 23 February | Price: £49
