National Gallery encourages visitors to look at art ‘slowly’
The National Gallery will encourage visitors to gaze at paintings “slowly” to better appreciate art.
The London gallery is staging a new exhibition dedicated to David Hockney, who has theorised about the value of spending extended periods examining artwork in a process called “slow looking”.
A series of talks will take place alongside the show, Hockney and Piero: A Longer Look, in which the practice of dwelling in front of paintings, rather than rushing to see as many as possible, will be promoted.
Curator Susanna Avery-Quash said: “Essentially, slow looking is a way of getting to know a painting by spending time with it. Many people don’t know how to begin to look at a painting.”
Hockney has previously suggested “slow looking” should take about “half an hour” for each work.
In the programme for the upcoming show, he claims that an hour would be an ideal length of time.
Proponents of the practice encourage viewers to focus on different elements of a work, moving from an examination of the surface, the brushstrokes, and colouring, to dwelling on any iconography or motif in the image to interpret its meaning.
In the upcoming Hockney and Piero exhibition, Piero della Francesca’s The Baptism of Christ will be displayed alongside Hockney works inspired by the Italian painter.
Alongside the exhibition, a range of workshops will be held, including “learning to look” sessions for children.
The concept of “slow looking” will also be explained in other lectures and events programmed during the course of the free exhibition, which will run from August to Oct 27.
Hockney said of the show: “I didn’t visit London until I was 18 years old. The National Gallery was just there.
“They didn’t do exhibitions in those days. But I often went there as a student. I was always looking at Fra Angelico, Piero, Vermeer and Van Gogh.
“On those early visits I remember being affected by Piero’s The Baptism of Christ; it was marvellous.
“I understand what reproductions do. They’ve enriched my life a great deal, and I know a lot of things from looking at them. On the other hand, when you see the real paintings it is a different experience.”