How to write about art

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How to write about art

By The Guardian Masterclasses

Date and time

Saturday, May 16, 2015 · 10am - 5pm GMT+1

Location

The Guardian

Kings Place 90 York Way London N1 9GU United Kingdom

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Description

Master the fine art of writing about art

Whether your writing is academic, creative or critical, the most important facet of writing about art is capturing the essence of a work, rather than simply describing its appearance. This exclusive seminar from one of the art world's most respected communicators will show you how its done.

Dr Noah Charney is a bestselling author, award-winning journalist, professor of art history and TV presenter, and has enviable experience of describing art from different perspectives for different audiences. Suitable for authors, journalists and academics, this one-day course will help you develop your intellectual and critical thinking, to analyse art with a new clarity and describe it with new verve. The day also includes a session on how to develop a successful proposal for a book related to art, featuring a talk from Dr Diane Fortenberry a senior editor at specialist visual arts book publishers Phaidon.

This course is for you if…

  • You're an art historian, collector or enthusiast who wants to write books about art
  • You're a creative writer planning or writing a novel with a plot, setting or character involved in the art world
  • You're an aspiring or experienced journalist, critic or blogger looking for new ways to explore art in your writing
  • You're a teacher or lecturer in art or art history who wants to bring the subject to life in stimulating ways
  • You're an academic writer or researcher who wants to use less dry language to describe artworks

Course description

This one-day seminar explores writing about art from various angles, whether from an academic, journalistic, non-fiction or fiction perspective. The course also features a practical component on how to develop successful book proposals for art books, and includes a guest appearance by a senior editor at Phaidon. Topics covered on the day include:

  • The history of thinking and writing about art, from Pliny to the present day
  • Art in fiction: how it is described (and how not to describe it), and what it can bring to a story
  • Academic approaches, from scientific analysis to connoisseurship to provenance
  • Ekphrasis: How to describe art with words, and why sometimes that's the last thing you want to do
  • Bringing art to life by writing about the world around an object
  • How to write successful book proposals related to art (with advice from a guest speaker from specialist publishing house Phaidon)

Tutor profiles

Dr Noah Charney is a professor of art history and an internationally best-selling author of fiction and non-fiction. He holds Masters degrees from The Courtauld Institute of Art and University of Cambridge, and a doctorate from University of Ljubljana. He is Adjunct Professor of Art History at the American University of Rome, a Visiting Lecturer for Brown University, and founder of ARCA (the Association for Research into Crimes against Art). He is an award-winning columnist, with regular features in the Guardian, the Daily Beast, the LA Times, Esquire and many other publications. He also appears regularly as an arts presenter on television, with recent appearances on BBC2 and National Geographic. He is the author of novels, trade non-fiction, academic books, and guidebooks on the subject of art and art crime. Learn more at www.noahcharney.com.

Dr Diane Fortenberry is a senior editor at Phaidon Press.

Full course and returns information on the Masterclasses website

Organized by

Welcome to Guardian Masterclasses – a unique programme of learning embedded within one of the world's most forward-thinking media organisations.

We offer a broad range of short and long courses across a variety of disciplines from creative writing, journalism, photography and design, film and digital media, music and cultural appreciation.

Harnessing the expertise and specialisms within the organisation, our courses are led by first class and award winning guardian professionals whilst also drawing on the skills and expertise of other leading figures at the forefront of the creative and digital industries.

The programme is aimed at anyone interested in personal or professional development whether that be refining your skills, focusing your ambition or simply broadening your mind and gaining inspiration.

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