We’ll be sharing artworks from our collection so that you can do some close-looking exercises from wherever you are. Grab a friend and do it together to spark conversation or do it by yourself for some relaxation.

Here are some tips for doing these close-looking exercises yourself or with others:

  1. LOOK. Start by looking at the image for around 10 minutes. Don’t worry about writing anything down, yet – you just want to look at the art, first!
  2. DESCRIBE. Ask yourself what you’re seeing – are there figures present? How many? Is it a landscape or a portrait? Feel free to write your observations down. Be descriptive!
  3. FEEL. Think about how the artwork makes you feel. What does it remind you of? Why does it remind you of that? Use what you were able to see in earlier steps to here.
  4. INTREPRET. Finally, what do you think the artist is trying to convey?

It’s normal to leave with more questions than you started with!

A print of a woman dressed in patterned robes, holding a black lacquer box for collecting fireflies, with a fan in her mouth. Behind her, a man looks down at a river with plants around it

Close Looking: Japanese woodblock print (Woman)

Here are some tips for doing this close-looking exercise yourself or with others: LOOK . Start by looking at the image for around 10 minutes. Don’t worry about writing anything down, yet – you just want to look at the art, first! DESCRIBE . Ask yourself what you’re seeing –...
A triptych made up of three prints with many sumo wrestlers. At the top, men dressed in robes and sitting on patterned mats watch them wrestle.

Close Looking: Japanese woodblock print (Sumo)

Here are some tips for doing this close-looking exercise yourself or with others: LOOK . Start by looking at the image for around 10 minutes. Don’t worry about writing anything down, yet – you just want to look at the art, first! DESCRIBE . Ask yourself what you’re seeing –...
A print with many masculine figures engaging in battle, some on horseback, some on foot. In the center, one man is holding the body of a fallen man.

Close Looking: Italian Engraving

Here are some tips for doing this close-looking exercise yourself or with others: LOOK . Start by looking at the image for around 10 minutes. Don’t worry about writing anything down, yet – you just want to look at the art, first! DESCRIBE . Ask yourself what you’re seeing –...
A print of two people, a woman and a man, in which the woman is sitting on the shoulders of the man who is carrying her while he walks. The woman’s hair is blown backwards, and she is only wearing a bra, while the man is only wearing underwear.

Close Looking: American Engraving

Here are some tips for doing this close-looking exercise yourself or with others: LOOK . Start by looking at the image for around 10 minutes. Don’t worry about writing anything down, yet – you just want to look at the art, first! DESCRIBE . Ask yourself what you’re seeing –...
A black and white print of two women, both wearing dresses and shawls over their heads. Neither is wearing shoes. The one on the left has her hands clasped, while the one on the right is cupping one hand up to her ear.

Close Looking: Ecuadorian Lithograph

Here are some tips for doing this close-looking exercise yourself or with others: LOOK . Start by looking at the image for around 10 minutes. Don’t worry about writing anything down, yet – you just want to look at the art, first! DESCRIBE . Ask yourself what you’re seeing –...
Framed 3-D assemblage, male figure with cigarette and holding paintbrush, male figure on left standing on step stool and holding camera, female figure center background, paintings, frames, paint buckets and brushes.

Close Looking: 3-D Lithograph

Here are some tips for doing this close-looking exercise yourself or with others: LOOK . Start by looking at the image for around 10 minutes. Don’t worry about writing anything down, yet – you just want to look at the art, first! DESCRIBE . Ask yourself what you’re seeing –...
An amphora with black figures on either side. The vessel is mostly reddish and there is a variety of black decoration throughout.

Close Looking: Athenian Amphora

Here are some tips for doing this close-looking exercise yourself or with others: LOOK . Start by looking at the image for around 10 minutes. Don’t worry about writing anything down, yet – you just want to look at the art, first! DESCRIBE . Ask yourself what you’re seeing –...
Soldiers standing in lines; all with heads lowered.

Close Looking: American Etching

Here are some tips for doing this close-looking exercise yourself or with others: LOOK . Start by looking at the image for around 10 minutes. Don’t worry about writing anything down, yet – you just want to look at the art, first! DESCRIBE . Ask yourself what you’re seeing –...