"To Understand Painting, You Need a Chair"

Here is an excerpt from Tim Hawkesworth essay, "To Understand Painting, You Need a Chair."

“When curators hang paintings with a heavy thematic construct, when they post large “educational” explanations beside a painting, or when they sell you audio-tapes to listen to while you look at paintings, they undermine the relationship between the viewer and the painting. Painting communicates through the power of unnamed substances. It creates a silence inside us in which the imagination has room to travel. A viewer in front of a painting is in a position to have a full-bodied meditation – to be transported and expanded. Philip Guston talked about “reeling with meanings” in front of paintings. The moment needs silence, possibly a chair, some good lighting and a frame that doesn’t distract. Keep the writing for the catalogue or the book – give painting its due.”

— http://timhawkesworth.com/writing/chair.php

The Storm, George Innes, 1876, oil on canvas, 25 3/8 × 38 1/4 in. Art Institute of Chicago