How to See ─ Looking, Talking, and Thinking About Art

What makes a work of art good? What makes it interesting? In How to See, internationally renowned painter David Salle strips away complicated theory and describes contemporary art in the plain language artists use when talking to each other. His wide-ranging essays explore concepts such as “the what and the how” (how an artist gives form to an idea), “originators and enforcers” (artists who invent ideas versus those who distill and perfect them), and how artists understand their work as a conversation with art history. His intimate portraits of friends and contemporaries such as Roy Lichtenstein, Jeff Koons, and John Baldassari help us understand the “personalities” of their great works and give readers new ways to understand and appreciate contemporary art. “A lot of what we call interpretation is really just paying close attention,” he writes. With wit and elan, Salle shows everyone how to see like an artist.