Slow Looking: The Art of Nature

Slow Looking: The Art of Nature is a unique celebration of the relationship between art and nature across millennia. Eschewing a linear narrative of art, this inspirational collection of artworks allows readers to make connections between the nature that surrounds them and the vision of a dazzling wide range of artists. Art historian Olivia Meehan has mixed paintings, drawings, sculpture, textiles, and decorative arts from across the globe in thought-provoking juxtapositions, inviting us to find something new in a familiar landscape and experiment in observing nature’s wonders.

Exploring the various intersections between artistic techniques and thematical elements across land, water, and sky, the pages reveal the deep-­rooted connections between human beings and our natural world: the form and colors of a Georgia O’Keeffe painting of a shell echo a carved fossil from 500,000–300,000 BCE; Van Gogh’s olive trees (1889) are juxtaposed with ancient Egyptian carved limestone dated between 1353–1323 BCE; and while water lilies captivated Claude Monet, their allure also traveled to mid-­18th century India in Hunhar II’s watercolor work.

Following nature’s patterns, Slow Looking: The Art of Nature takes readers on a journey from fields, mountains, forests, and glaciers to lakes, ponds, waterfalls, and rivers, and on to sunrises, rainbows, comets, clouds, constellations, and so much more. This guided observation of nature offers a whole new way of contemplating the world.