study material: <story of art>- Gombrich
Intro: Art and artists
most people like to see in pictures what they would also like to see in reality, that is quite a nature preference. we all like beautiful things, but the beauty of a picture dies not really lie in the beauty of its subject matter. 要记住我们看的是画 而不是美人,哪怕相貌平庸，画作也依然引人入胜。
The trouble about beauty is that tastes and standards of what is beautiful vary so much。
...but we must first learn to know his methods drawing to understand his feeling, different methods of drawings are like different languages. when we have come to understand these different languages, we may even prefer works of art whose expression is less "good-looking".我们必须先学会理解他的绘画手法，然后才能了解他的感情。在逐渐了解了那些不同的绘画语言后，我们甚至有可能对表现方法不那么flatter的作品更喜爱。
所以 如果我们看到一幅画画得不够“正确”，那么应该追问自己个问题，（1）艺术家是否无端的更改了他所看见的事物的外形。
我们有个很奇怪的细观念头，总是认为画作应该永远跟我们司空见惯的图画一样。
可是，如果我们能把过去听说的什么青草蓝天之类的话都置之脑后，好像从其它星球刚刚探险来到此地一样初次面对这个世界，就能发现这世间万物大可具有出人意外的色彩。有时画家就觉得自己是在进行这种探险。他们想要重新看世界，把肉是粉红色苹果是黄红色这样的conventional偏见抛开。在这方面最有成果的艺术家往往能创作出最振奋人心的作品。比如dali的作品。
we are all inclined to accept conventional forms or colors as the only correct ones. but if we try to forget about conventional forms and colours, we may find that things are apt to have the most surprising colours and forms.
there is no greater obstacle to the enjoyment of great works of art than our unwillingness to discard habits and prejudices.
我们今天在博物馆美术馆中看到的陈列的雕塑和绘画当初都不是为了有意作为艺术展出而创作的，他们都是为了特定的场合特定的目的而创作的，所以在艺术家着手工作时，很多具体的条件都在他的考虑之中。
观察一位艺术家如此努力的追求合适的平衡是件引人入胜的事（米开朗基罗的草地上的圣母 以及各种姿势的草图的例子），但他也无法回答为什么要这样做。确实有一些艺术家活着批评家曾想方设法总结他们的一书法则，然而关于那些法则，事实总是证明，低手庸才试图循规蹈矩却一无所获，而艺术大师离经叛道却能获得一种前所未有的和谐。艺术是没有规则的，因为你永远不能预先知道艺术家可能要达到的效果。
nothing, perhaps, is more important than just this: that to enjoy these works we must have a fresh mind, now which is ready to catch every hint and to respond to every hidden harmony: a mind.
it is infinitely better not to know anything about art than to have the kind of half-knowledge which makes for snobbishness.
there's nothing more dangerous than half-knowledge and snobbery in art appreciation.
