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Art History: Look Closer

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LEVEL 1 · 0/3LEVEL 2 · 0/3LEVEL 3 · 0/3LEVEL 4 · 0/3LEVEL 5 · 0/3START
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Fifteen masterpieces from the Met and the Art Institute of Chicago, and the eye to read them: tap the lunch break in Bruegel's Harvesters, the bath in a Renaissance palace, Vermeer's window, Caravaggio's own face, Plato at Socrates's death, Degas's ballet master, Seurat's monkey, Van Gogh's blue washbasin, Cézanne's pipes and Mount Fuji in Hokusai's Great Wave, with perspective, chiaroscuro, Impressionism, Pointillism, Post-Impressionism and Japonisme on the way.

3h 05m5 constellations
AT THE SUMMIT, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO

01Look at a painting slowly and find its light

02Name the parts of linear perspective

03Read a story painting through its gestures

04Tell Impressionism, Pointillism and Post-Impressionism apart

05See Japan's influence on Western painting

Every lesson of Art History: Look Closer

15 lessons in 5 levels, about 3 hours. Level 1 is free.

Level 1How to LookFree · 3 lessons
  1. Look SlowlyTake a painting in slowly: the whole scene first, then the people, then the details.12 min
  2. Lines That MeetSee how linear perspective makes a flat panel look deep.12 min
  3. Light From a WindowFollow the light in a painting, and name the contrast of light and dark.12 min
Level 2Drama and StoryMembership · 3 lessons
  1. Caravaggio's ModelsSee what made Caravaggio revolutionary, in his painting The Musicians.12 min
  2. Rembrandt and FameRead what Rembrandt's Aristotle with a Bust of Homer says about fame.12 min
  3. A Painting Tells a StoryRead a story painting through its gestures, as in David's Death of Socrates.13 min
Level 3ImpressionismMembership · 3 lessons
  1. Impressions of LightKnow how Impressionism began, how it got its name, and how to spot its technique.12 min
  2. Modern Life: Dancers and RainSee how Degas and Caillebotte painted modern Paris.13 min
  3. One Subject, Many LightsSee why Monet painted the same stacks of wheat again and again.12 min
Level 4After ImpressionismMembership · 3 lessons
  1. Dots of ColorSee how Seurat's pointillism mixes color in your eye.12 min
  2. Van Gogh's Ten YearsFollow Van Gogh's career and read his color from his own letter.13 min
  3. Cézanne and the Post-ImpressionistsName the Post-Impressionists and see how Cézanne built a composition.12 min
Level 5Japan and the Art TestMembership · 3 lessons
  1. The Great WaveSee how Hokusai built the Great Wave, and where Japanese prints came from.12 min
  2. Japan in ParisSee how Japanese prints changed Western painting, from Degas to Cassatt.12 min
  3. The Art TestUse the whole path: looking, perspective, light, movements and their masterpieces.14 min
FREE

Level 1 is open.

Membership opens every other level of this path.

See membership
AFTER THE CORE

Keep going where this path leads.

Learn to Draw What You SeeFrom looking to drawing · 2h 56m
Take Photos People Stop ForLight and composition with a camera · 3h 01m