Reading Art History: The Beginning

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This weekend, as I was putting away our Christmas decorations in the basement, I stumbled across a pile of books I'd forgotten about. Really, I am always stumbling upon piles of forgotten books, but this particular pile I hadn't seen since before we moved into our house five and a half years ago. On top was my college textbook for Art History 101 and 102:

I don't think I've seen this book since 2008. This beautiful, 1000+-page book was a resource throughout my art history major. It wasn't a textbook we had to read cover to cover, so when we were assigned sections, I read them. They complemented the lectures and were great to refresh my memory. I decided to bring it upstairs and started flipping through it. I wondered, how many pages would I have to read each day to read this book by January 1, 2020? 3-4. I can read three or four pages of an art history textbook each day, I thought. Then I turned to the first page and discovered it was already page 15. How fortuitous! The five days before I decided to give myself one more reading challenge were already accounted for! This week I started what I hope is a year-long journey with this book. I'm excited to learn, re-learn, and remember art history. Over the years since college, I know I've forgotten quite a bit. Plus, one of my non-reading goals this year is to experience more art. I realize I haven't been to the Des Moines Art Center since maternity leave (Hawthorne is four). It's a museum I love. It's five minutes from my house. And it's free to get in. I'm determined to visit it (at least once) this year. I used to be better at visiting art museums and galleries when I visit cities for conferences, but I've fallen out of that habit in recent years. If you have suggestions of art spaces to visit in Seattle, please let me know!

But for now, I'm off to read three more pages.

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