Movements drawn as small studies, a way to look at any picture and a wall of colour studies.
Original studies in the spirit of each, not copies of any work.
Painters used linear perspective and the study of anatomy to build convincing space. Brunelleschi worked out perspective around 1415, and artists such as Leonardo and Raphael built on it.
Look for: Lines that meet at a vanishing pointQuick, visible brushwork caught changing light outdoors. The name came from a critic who mocked Monet’s Impression, Sunrise after the group’s first show in 1874.
Look for: Colour broken into small touchesLong, flowing lines taken from plants and flowers, used in posters, glass, jewellery and architecture. Mucha, Gaudí, Tiffany and Guimard are among its names.
Look for: The whiplash curveNamed after the 1925 Paris exhibition of decorative arts. Sharp geometry, sunbursts and rich materials such as lacquer, brass and marble.
Look for: Fans, zigzags and stepped formsA school founded by Walter Gropius that joined art, craft and industry. Teachers linked basic shapes with primary colours: a yellow triangle, a red square and a blue circle.
Look for: Simple shapes in primary coloursWoodblock prints of the floating world of theatre, travel and city life. The wave motif drawn here is seigaiha, a traditional Japanese pattern of overlapping arcs.
Look for: Flat colour and strong outlineArtists such as Donald Judd and Dan Flavin reduced works to simple forms, colour and surface, so that the viewer’s presence in the room becomes part of the work.
Look for: A single field of colourFive habits that make a gallery visit richer.
Most people glance for seconds. Stay long enough for details to surface.
Look from across the room, then close enough to see the brushwork.
Notice where forms are crisp and where they dissolve.
Warm colours advance and cool ones recede. See how the painter balances them.
Form your own view first, then read the label and see what changes.
Six colour studies drawn for this site, hung the way a collector might hang them.
Practical steps for a first-time buyer.
Prints, drawings and photographs cost less than paintings and teach you what you like.
Visit galleries, fairs and auction previews before you buy anything.
Choose pieces you keep thinking about, not pieces that only match a sofa.
File receipts, certificates and condition notes for every work. Ask for documentation and consider independent advice on authenticity and price.