The Art of Seeing – the contemplation of Beauty
with Mary Attwood
Thursday 20th July 2023
7-8pm UK time via Zoom
£10
7-8pm UK ti
“At any time between 1750 and 1930, if you had asked educated people to describe the aim of poetry, art or music, they would have replied ‘beauty’.”
Sir Roger Scruton
In our modern times, we seem to have neglected beauty in Art, in our expressions of creativity and in every day life. How we think and act become disjointed and soulless in the absence of beauty. The contemplation of Beauty in a work of art is not a thing to be looked at, but a quality that can be nourished and brought back from its slumber and beheld. This quality realigns us to a better form of character, reminding us of our intrinsic nature, and we are altered as we are reminded of the importance of beauty – not for the sake of utility, but precisely because of its uselessness; a uselessness which we are being urged to return to. As Sir Roger Scruton said,
“Put usefulness first, and you will lose it. Put beauty first, and what you get will be used forever… nothing is more useful than the useless…beautiful details remind us that we have more than practical needs; we are not just animal appetites, but human beings with dignity, divinity and love of each other.”
During this session one work of Art will hold our attention as you will be invited to actively look, see and contemplate Beauty.
These sessions are £10 per person.
In order to book please visit Mary’s website here https://maryattwood.com/2023/06/20/the-art-of-seeing-contemplation-of-beauty/
BIOGRAPHY
Mary Attwood is an art historian, author, mentor and business creative with a particular interest in the ways in which our perceptions of art can awaken us to a deeper, embodied dimension of being we have lost in our post-modern age. She is a founding member and co-director of the Centre for Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred, and co- founder and co-director of Channel McGilchrist. She holds a BA (hons) in the History of Art from London University where she followed her passion to study Italian late medieval and renaissance art and architecture, while also pursuing her interest in Eastern philosophy, qualifying as a teacher in yoga, meditation and mindfulness, and co-authoring two books published by Watkins. She holds an MA with distinction in Myth, Cosmology and the Sacred. She believes that the ways in which we engage with art can alter perceptions and consciousness and help us meet the complexities of modern living by offering a renaissance of humane and sacred values.
