Refine your palette

Don't let galleries, abstracts and jargon intimidate you. It's never too late to build your own taste in art

- Rachel Lopez

Art isn't decoration. It's not a frill reserved for those with time and money. Humans have been making art since they could run a stick through the sand.

We could draw before we could write, count, trade, keep records. Art tells stories that words and numbers can't. But it's taught poorly (if at all) in schools. So, most Indians are understandably clueless and suspicious.

"Works of art are just objects, like a refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner," says Daniel McDermon, writer and former culture editor at The New York Times in his 2018 essay, How to Fall in Love With Art. "What makes them special is the experience you have with them." Here's a quick guide to help.

Stop trying to "get it".

An artwork isn't an Aesop fable, with a moral at the end. A canvas, sculpture, or installation typically tells several tales, which may change with time, place and the people viewing it.

Go with what's familiar.

Starry Night, The Last Supper, Ravi Varma's Shakuntala, MF Husain's horses, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa - some works are better known than others. You don't have to like them, But take a closer look at them online. Read up on who painted them, when, where and why. And what still draws viewers to them.

Look closely.