The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

A RT (H T T PS : / / W W W. M AG N UM P H OTOS .COM /A

The Art of Lookin

Elliott Erwitt’s photographs offer a wry take

Elliott Erwitt (https://www.magnumphotos.com/ph


(mailto:?
subject=
will
like
this:
The
Art
 of
(https://www.faceb
Looking

u=https://www.ma
at
(https://twitte
culture/art/elliott-
Art&bod
text=The
erwitt- can
the- Art check
of
art- Lookingit
of- at out
looking- here:
at- Art&via=magn
https://w
art/) culture/a
erwitt-
the-
art-
of-
looking-
at-
art/)

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 1 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-th

Elliott Erwitt The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York City, USA. 1988. © Elliott Erwitt | Magnum Photos

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 2 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

Viewing art can be a highly intimate, immersive experience, or it can be a social exercise —
as the Louvre’s Mona Lisa crowds can attest. It’s increasingly an instagrammable occasion,
with the #peoplelookingatart hashtag revealing scores of gallery-goers engaging with art
and sharing it on Instagram. Despite a study conducted in 2001 discovering the average
time spent viewing an artwork is 17 seconds, the recorded effects on visitors range from
deeply disturbing to ecstatic joy, touching on a broad spectrum of human emotion, as
Magnum photographer Elliott Er witt
(https://w w w.magnumphotos.com/photographer/elliott-er witt/) witt/)’s images of
people immersed in looking at art and artifacts reflects.

Erwitt’s photographs capturing candid moments of people viewing art showcase the
cultural importance of these venues, while finding space to be playful within their
traditional parameters. “I am a dedicated people watcher who loves to see art and art
watchers watching,” Erwitt writes in his book, Museum Watching. “For a photographer,
rather than fly casting, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.”

From March 23–August 15, the most comprehensive retrospective of Er witt’s work
to date will be shown at the Musée Maillol in Paris
(https://museemaillol.com/en/)
(https://museemaillol.com/en/). As well as adorning the walls with over 200
photographs, spanning 60 years of photography, several photographs from Museum
Watching are to be displayed opposite the framed works of Maillol’s permanent collection,
a wry nod towards his fascination with the art of looking at art.

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 3 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

Magazine (https://www.magnumphotos.com/)
Shop (https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop)
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-th
Gallery
Elliott Erwitt Guanajuato, Mexcio. 1957. © Elliott Erwitt | Magnum Photos
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/gallery/)
Learn
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/learn-
https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 4 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/learn-
with-magnum)
(https://www.magnumphotos.com)
Exhibitions & Events
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/events/)
Photographers
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographers
Magnum at 75 (http://magnumphotos75.com/)

(https:
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-
erwi
erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/attachment/par41879/)
https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 5 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/attachment/par41879/)
Elliott Erwi
Magnum P
Elliott Erwitt Greece. 1963. © Elliott Erwitt | Magnum Photos

"For a photographer, rather than fly casting, it’s

like shooting fish in a barrel"
- Elliott Erwitt

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 6 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-th

Elliott Erwitt Rodin Museum, France. Paris. 1998. © Elliott Erwitt | Magnum Photos

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 7 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

During ‘idle moments’ in his hometown of New York, or while traveling, Erwitt
photographed museum culture from 1949–1990s in search of what he describes as “easily
accessible, visual displays of the ‘human effort to imitate, supplement, alter or counteract
the work of nature.” Taken surreptitiously, often evading security guards, Erwitt pokes fun,
asking what is more curious, the art, or the unassuming spectators?

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 8 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture
looking-at-art/attachment/n

Elliott Erwitt Pisa. Italy. 1976. © Elliott Erwitt | Magnum Photos

With a droll eye, he captures suited men discussing seemingly empty frames, the gilded
eyes of Theban priestess Henutmehyt spying on the young boy at the British Museum, or a
photo teasingly depicting a cluster of men staring at The Naked Maja (1800), while a lone
woman pauses at The Clothed Maja (1800). But in amongst the wry visual puns, are
uniquely human moments, as seen in the portrait of an impish young man, reaching out to
touch the bronze fingers of a passing statue. “People seem to be an attracted to items in
museums with which they have a special affinity,” he writes. “Perhaps we are drawn to things
that resemble ourselves.”

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 9 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-th

Elliott Erwitt Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain. 1995. © Elliott Erwitt | Magnum Photos

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 10 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

"Art is a good way of looking at nudity without

embarrassment"
- Elliott Erwitt

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 11 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-t

Elliott Erwitt The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. 1953. © Elliott Erwitt | Magnum Photos

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 12 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/nyc13974-2/)
Elliott Erwitt | -scaled.jpg The Tate Gallery. London. England. 1993. © Elliott Erwitt | Elliott Erwi
Magnum Photos her sister,
© Elliott Er

In his written musings in the book, Erwitt unpicks why we visit museums, our fascinations
with artifacts and artworks. “Art is a good way of looking at nudity without
embarrassment,” he notes. “It’s a cultured way of looking at naughty bits.” He bluntly
references the human need to always ‘be somewhere,’ our obsession with ‘human or animal
mortality,’ and quips “often the frames are more artistic than their contents.”

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-t

Elliott Erwitt Acropolis Museum in Athens. Greece. 1963. © Elliott Erwitt | Magnum Photos

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-
erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/attachment/nyc3854-3/) Elliott Erwi
Magnum P
Elliott Erwitt The Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. USA. 1967. © Elliott Erwitt |
Magnum Photos

"All museums have personalities"

- Elliott Erwitt

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 13 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-t

Elliott Erwitt Miscellaneous. 1993. © Elliott Erwitt | Magnum Photos

Over the decades spent documenting the phenomenon, Erwitt has come to some
conclusions about the role of museums, their benefits, and shortcomings: “All museums
have personalities: some are intimate and welcoming, others are vast and unfathomable.
Some are aggressive and super-modern with no sense of purpose other than to draw
attention,” he writes. Ultimately, he states, “In the end all museums are interesting. Even
when they’re not.”

Visit Elliott Er witt: Retrospective (https://museemaillol.com/en/) at the Musée

Maillol in the seventh arrondissement of Paris, until August 15, 2023.

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-

Elliott Erwitt Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. "Guernica" by Pablo Picasso. Madrid, Spain. 1995. © Elli

Elliott Erwitt
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographer/elliott-e

Commission a Magnum photographer

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/work-wi
Fine Collectors’ Prints

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/magnum
acropolis (https://www.magnumphotos.com/?s=acropolis) , Black
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/?s=Black+And+White) , Elliot Erw
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/?s=Elliot+Erwitt) , Magnum Pho
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/?s=Magnum+Photos) , MoMA
s=MoMA) , Museum (https://www.magnumphotos.com/?s=Museum
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/?s=museums+day) , Tate (https:

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 14 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

- Written by Ellie Howard · May 18, 2020

Next Story

A R T S & C U LT U R E

A Tableau of Tribes: Martin

Parr Photographs Frieze Art
Fair

Martin Parr

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-
culture/art/martin-parr-frieze-art-
fair-london-2018/)

EXPLOR E MOR E

A R T S & C U LT U R E THEORY & PRACTICE NEWS

The Art of Looking at Art Inside Magnum: The 75th Anniversary of

Collecting Photography the Battle of the Bulge

Elliott Erwitt Robert Capa

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/theory-
(https://www.magnump
culture/art/elliott- and- battle-bulge-
erwitt-the-art-of- practice/inside- world-war-robert-
A R T S & C U LT U R E NEWS NEWS
looking-at-art/) magnum- capa/)
In the Studio: Matisse by The 75th Anniversary of Chechnya: Images of a
collecting-
Henri Cartier-Bresson the Battle of Monte Forgotten War
photography/)
Cassino

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 15 of 16
The Art of Looking at Art • Elliott Erwitt • Magnum Photos 6/4/23, 22:49

Henri Cartier-Bresson

(https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/co
(https://www.magnump
culture/art/studio-
MAGNUM PHOTOS ABOUT
anniversary-
SHOP
chechnya-war-
POLICIES

matisse-henri- Magnum Photos

Magazine battle-monte-
Contact conflict-russia-
Code of Conduct
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/)
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/about-
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/contact/)
(https://www.magnumphot
cartier-bresson/)
Shop
cassino/)
magnum/overview/) FAQs
thomas-dworzak-
code-of-conduct)
(https://magnumphotos.com/shop)
History lawrence-sheets/)
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/faq/)
Public Complaints
Events & (https://www.magnumphotos.com/about-
Delivery & Policy
Exhibitions magnum/history/) Shipping (https://www.magnumphot
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/events/)
Magnum Explained (https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/delivery-
public-complaints-
Learn (https://www.magnumphotos.com/magnum-
shipping/) policy/)
(https://magnumphotos.com/learn)
explained/) Returns & Refund Privacy Policy
Photographers Work with Policy (https://www.magnumphot
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/photographers/)
Magnum (https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/returns-
policy/)
Licensing (https://creative.magnumphotos.com/about/)
refund-policy/) Educational
(https://pro.magnumphotos.com/)
Submissions Customs Safeguarding
Creative (https://www.magnumphotos.com/about-
Information Policy
(https://creative.magnumphotos.com/)
magnum/submissions) (https://www.magnumphotos.com/shop/customs-
(https://www.magnumphot
Careers information/) safeguarding-
(https://www.magnumphotos.com/about- policy/)
magnum/jobs/) Code of Ethics
(https://www.magnumphot
code-of-ethics/)

© 2023 MAGNUM PHOTOS (HTTPS://WWW.MAGNUMPHOTOS.COM) (HTTPS://INSTAGRAM.COM/MAGNUMPHOTOS)

PRIVACY POLICY (HTTPS://WWW.MAGNUMPHOTOS.COM/PRIVACY-POLICY/)
TERMS AND CONDITIONS (HTTPS://WWW.MAGNUMPHOTOS.COM/TERMS- (HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MAGNUMPHOTOS)
CONDITIONS/)
(HTTPS://TWITTER.COM/MAGNUMPHOTOS)

https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/art/elliott-erwitt-the-art-of-looking-at-art/ Page 16 of 16