Kirill Alekseev "Catechism of the art critic"

[Евгений]

Being an art critic - so stay for a few moments longer at work than many "interests".

We have to make, to keep himself in contact with the painting or sculpture, a few extra minutes, and then, like zapravskogo athlete-athlete, will open its second wind. You will begin to see hidden in the object of knowledge. Can not pass by without feeling the picture, if you disliked the plot or the manner of execution.
The plot - an occasion for creative implementation, reception - plexus of individual vision and the current at that time the art of fashion.
 Must dismiss a little, look at the product, if it is created today.
Then, you will feel more connections, the work will be closer than if you look at it as a characteristic of a particular era or style.
If, after a long exercise in galleries and museums, unexpectedly, at the sight of the next masterpiece, you do not feel, you probably have or are tired, or in the object itself contains a kind of deception that is not recognized by the knowledge of technology, but rather intuitively.

Читать дальше... 

self-deception, enthusiasm and the illusion - the enemies of the priorities for the researcher of art. Enthusiasm makes it impossible for an analytical approach to creativity, illusion, fueled by self-esteem, often blinded by a specialist, pulling his attention to the subjective givenness and non-existent problem.

The next stage is the most difficult for nenahodchivyh people. This level of knowledge requires individuals to determine what it seems "beautiful" and said it aloud, preferably before a large audience.

At the very moment when a person is taken the trouble to clothe their experience in oral form, accessible to outside observers, it brings up an important part of their experience - the definition of basic concepts. This process is valuable, especially for himself, and then to the attentive listeners.

When the concepts and terms are defined, a person ceases to be afraid of "incomprehensible" in the art. His level of knowledge of artistic material acquires the features of the existing system and a researcher can be called beginner.
Then the person starts to happen the most interesting.

The whole world around us becomes part of the apparatus, which brought up this kind of training. It is easy to explain to himself and others, that is admired in a masterpiece by an eminent and very difficult to see the masterpiece of the Creator in the car flashed through the window landscape or a combination of colors of street signs. But the surrounding reality, interpreted in its own way, and may confuse fledgling, self-confident mind, tempt and throw in the middle of the shaft experiences and spontaneous emotions. Then, the pride of the first successful experiments of perception does not allow you to see something more than the manner of the artist or the typical reception era. Generally speaking, this still could be some kind of defense intelligence from excessive congestion.

Each person has their own "scale of values", where combined online banners and the Impressionists, the aesthetics posters performers and masterpieces of ancient art. If not to arrange any semantic accents, not to fix the quality of visual material, then very quickly come Indifference - the main enemy of the audience. And with an external "knowledge", you will never see the beauty that is independent of time, style, manners ..

Perhaps it is the most difficult - to keep the fact that around you, enjoying every moment of space and changes reality. The next stage, after overcoming their pride in the perception of fine art - alignment of intertemporal laws and unified view of all the world art, from primitive art to the "actual" experiences of recent days. It would require many generalizations, which may bring to the "empathy" and "empathy".

If you try to jump over the suppression of self-worth in the process, then once in your texts and words will be a "zapanibratstvo" with the authors of paintings, sculpture and architecture, which is characteristic of many museum staff members and an absolute majority of antique dealers.

We often say: "At first glance, I did not like this picture," it means that when you are second, third, tenth time, proved to be of the same work you were another person, your inner system of aesthetic values was not ready to include in its turnover this work to find her a place in your personal perception system. When, can unwittingly, you look to the already visible, make the mind to see something, that went unnoticed before.

At different times of day can change coverage, the degree of attentiveness audience, his interest in the effect of perception, but a work of art does not change. This is a continuing point of objectivity in our scale of value estimates, parallel transforming us. This interesting paradox of perception, like a game of imagination, could distract from the goals, make a veil of uncertainty and instability, but he is able and utterly destroy your whole internal system of aesthetic evaluation, if your priorities and goals shaky and uncertain.

Do not deceive yourself, mixing history with art. There are many similarities in these two sciences, but still, it is fundamentally different, almost unrelated science. This may seem strange, but sprayed on topics like "the historical background of iconographic plot" and "the role of the customer in the work of the artist, is a distraction from the important visual component of the work. Of course, we should not forget in what is being created by, but, nevertheless, it is not important in the analysis of monuments.

Can long demagogic philosophize about the what is the purpose of understanding the monuments of culture and art, but still, under any circumstances is a personal experience of each of the "followers", his personal experience and empathy. And the first step on this path - to stay in the chosen work, breaking away from the crowds of tourists.
-------------------------------------------------- ---------
The art historian, senior fellow at the Tretyakov Gallery
curator of the newest trends curator of the exhibition programs
teacher.