August 9, 2026

By Arthur H. Gunther III

thecolumnrule.com

I paint, something I morphed into after retirement as a newspaperman (although that information job never ends, even without salary). My thankful years as a staff photographer, page layout man, writer, editor, composing room work, and then some time in construction all watered skills that came together in putting line, form and color on canvas. Just another way of making deadline. Not a fine artist am I, but I try to speak, if only for myself. We all express in one way or another.

This rather long personal introduction to today’s essay, taking the scenic route, is meant to muse about why we view artwork in a museum, in galleries, now often online. We can look even if we have no obvious interest in art or sculpture, etc.

Line, form and color structure our lives – in what we wear, how our living spaces appear, probably even in how we see others. There is mystery to that because the subconscious can rule. Do we know why we are attracted to the certain look of anything, of people?

It is said by critics that art is emotional, that staring at a particular piece can move you. Perhaps, and maybe not for all of us, but do we really know why? Beyond art, for example, what is it in someone we meet, even for just an evening, that touches us deeply, unforgettably?

“Absorbed,” the painting that accompanies this column, shows a woman in a gallery who has taken on the colors of the piece, leaving it seemingly blank, although the next viewer probably will see it whole. It’s just her experience, her absorption. Connection made.

The writer is a retired newspaperman.

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