About Pictures

Pictures of one kind or another surround us in our everyday lives, so much so that we assume they been with us forever. Not so. In this readable and witty account, Terry Fenton takes the reader on a journey through the history and characteristics of this omnipresent aspect of our art and culture. Over thirty colour images many drawn from the collections of great museums bring depth and understanding to various art periods, styles and genres. As the title suggest, About Pictures is about pictures: what they are, where and when they arose, how to use them, and how to sort them out.

About Pictures was borne of Terry Fenton's long career as a gallery director, curator, and critic. It is written with the aim to help students, art collectors and gallery visitors develop confidence in ability to see and form their own opinions about the pictures they see in museums and everyday life. In addition to brief essays that provide a solid grounding on the elements of art the book features pointed questions that shed light on the fundamentals of art and art history. No one interested in painting and photography can afford not to have About Pictures on their shelf or in their hands as they look at pictures in galleries and museums or in their own homes.

Terry Fenton

Terry Fenton is a painter and writer based in Saskatoon. His landscape and still life paintings are collected in national and international collections. he is in demand as a critic, curator and author of articles and books on Canadian and international artists. He is former Director of the Edmonton Art Gallery, the Leighton Foundation in Calgary, and the Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon. Fenton contributed the cover art and colour plates to the award winning poetry book When Light Falls From The Sun by Allan Safarik (2005). His most recent book is Reta Summers Cowley (2006) from University of Calgary Press which was nominated for the Sasktoon Book Award in 2007.

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