Author Talk: Lincoln Perry

SEEING LIKE AN ARTIST
What Artists Perceive in the Art of Others
Lincoln Perry

“Irresistibly readable, companionable, and quotable.”—Joyce Carol Oates

 
Artists visit museums both for pleasure and to learn. Tag along with Lincoln Perry and discover how a painting’s composition and content or a sculpture’s spatial structure influence the experience of what you’re seeing. With an
artist as your guide, you can begin to see art as an artist does.
A visit to view art can be overwhelming, exhausting, and unrewarding. Lincoln Perry wants to change that. In fifteen essays—each framed around a specific theme—he provides new ways of seeing and appreciating art.
Perry is a disarmingly charming tour guide who makes art approachable and accessible. Along the way, he weaves in personal stories, from his own artistic journey as a painter and sculptor to the days when he could still spend nights in his beaten-up VW Bus in the Louvre’s parking lot.
Drawing heavily on examples from the European traditions of art, Perry aims to overturn assumptions and asks readers to re- think artistic prejudices while rebuilding new preferences.
Included are essays on how artists “read” paintings, how scale and format influence viewers, how to engage with sculptures and murals, as well as glimpses into some of the great museums and churches of Europe.
Seeing Like an Artist is for any artist, art-lover, or museumgoer who wants to grow their appreciation for the art of others.

Lincoln Perry’s distinctive landscapes, figurative paintings, and sculptures have been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions across the country. His large-scale murals can be found in landmark buildings such as the Met Life building in St. Louis and Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia. The monograph Lincoln Perry's Charlottesville includes an essay and interview by his
wife, Ann Beattie. His essays on art have appeared in The American Scholar, Arion, Salmagundi,  The Yale Review, and other journals. Mr. Perry divides his time between Maine, Virginia, and Florida.