Being an Art Detective--Looking Closely at Three Artworks

Marc Chagall, Russian-French Artist of Jewish ancestry, oil painting

What does comparing one piece of art to another one have to teach us? 

Here are paintings by two famous artists

and one artwork by an anonymous artist.

(Anonymous means we don't know the 

name of the person who made it.) 

This is an invitation to use the Studio 

Habit "Observe" to look closely at each 

work of art. 

Begin at the top with Marc Chagall's 

musician. After you have looked 

closely at all three works of art, 

scroll down to the bottom for next steps.

Georgia O'Keefe, American, Canna Lily, oil painting

Kantha embroidery, colored thread on fabric, India

This is an example of  Kantha embroidery.

*Note: Kantha is a type of embroidery craft from the 

eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, specifically

 in Bangladesh and in the Indian states of West 

Bengal, Tripura and Odisha. (definition from Wikipedia)














Next Steps:

1. Notice your feelings. The words "I like it" or "I

 don't like it" might pop into your head. Put these

feelings aside to explore a little more.

2. Observe things in the three artworks that are similar. 

For example, there are flowers in all three

artworks. Can you find the flowers?

Is there anything else that all three artworks have in common? A color or colors? example: red, white

A line? example, curved lines

A shape? example; rounded shapes

3. Now you can focus on things in the artworks that are different.

How can you talk about the differences?  What is each artwork about? We call that "subject matter?"

What colors do you see? Does the artist use a color family like warm and cool?

How do the artworks make you feel? Now you can come back to the feelings you had at the start.


 Note: If you would like to be on my blog, please write some comments in the comment box below. 

I would love to hear how you liked this "seeing" exercise. What did you learn from doing it? 


Another note: You can do this "seeing" exercise with any two (or more) works of art.  

By noticing what is similar and what is different and finding words to describe what you see, you will

no doubt start seeing more! 


The more you see, the more you will understand about art and the ways that artists use the *language 

of art to express their ideas and feelings.  *line, shape, color, texture, form, space, movement, etc.


PS You can improve your "Art Detective" skills by looking at lots of artwork in books, on line, and in

 person! You might even have some art at your house to study.

Have fun being an art detective! 

Ms. Brooks