John
W. Dixon, Jr., Art
as a Means of Thinking and of Grace
This has been descriptive analysis, done in words, not in art. The
descriptive analysis has a pedagogical function that makes the study
of art a communal enterprise, not only a private experience. What I
see I can impart to you, what you see you can impart to me. We are different
people and respond differently to the same event or representation.
We instruct each other to our common benefit.
But does the painting do something that neither the analysis nor the
original verbal narration can do?
