Back in the day I tested out of my art appreciation class, thanks to the grade I made on the CLEP test. The only question on that test that had anything vaguely to do with art was a picture of King Kong on the Empire State Building, and you had to identify who the ape was. Thus, I got through my entire college career without learning anything about art. What a terrible shame.

But now, having been blessed with some patient artists in my life and the opportunity to see some of the world’s great art in museums, I’m enjoying a late-in-life love affair with art. Fine art, like classical music, is an imposing climb when you’re just getting started. So let me suggest four books that might get you started.

On Ugliness

Edited by Umberto Eco
2011
456 pages
Nonfiction

First, the hook – the way to get you interested. Let me suggest the beautiful(?) picture book On Ugliness, edited by Umberto Eco. It is a dazzling display of ugliness and art and some serious reflection on the concept of beauty. There are pictures on every page, and I can pretty well assure you that if you pick this book up you’re going to want to look at every page. It is a great entrance to art criticism.

Playing to the Gallery: Helping Contemporary Art in Its Struggle to Be Understood

By Grayson Perry
2015
128 pages / 2 hours and 47 minutes
Nonfiction

Speaking of which (art criticism, that is) let me suggest two books that will help you understand both contemporary art and more generally how to look at and appreciate a piece. First, the incredibly witty (and short!) Playing to the Gallery by Grayson Perry. He is one of Britain’s most celebrated contemporary artists, and the book is full of cartoons, jokes, and self deprecating art humor. It is the best introduction I know to contemporary off-the-wall art.

Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light: 100 Art Writings 1988-2018

By Peter Schjeldahl
2019
368 pages / 15 hours and 3 minutes
Nonfiction

But if you’re willing to make a slightly more serious commitment and actually get a first-rate art education for free, let me recommend Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light by art critic Peter Schjeldahl. If you are like me, when you look at the table of contents, you will recognize a few of the more famous names (Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock, Van Gogh, Rembrandt) but will find most of them to be totally unfamiliar. The chapters are very short, essentially magazine articles, and you can read the three or four pages and then go out to explore the internet and see the art (there are no pictures in this book). Do one a week, and in two years you will be not only conversant in art but will have developed some notions of what you like and don’t like and why.

The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning

By Maggie Nelson
2012
304 pages / 8 hours and 49 minutes
Nonfiction

Finally, I suggest a book of criticism of not just visual art but art more broadly conceived, including literature and theater. The Art of Cruelty by Maggie Nelson is a thoughtful nuanced account of violence in both lowbrow and highbrow art forms. The book is not particularly easy reading, but I found it a profound and disconcerting reflection, and it put me to exploring some pieces I never would have explored otherwise.

Art requires time and attention. I will simply testify that I think it’s more than worth it.