Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See

Contemporary art describes artwork created from the 1970s to the present day. Bosker explains that this category encompasses current artistic production and recent works that reflect present-day themes, techniques, and concerns. The term appears frequently as Bosker attempts to understand and appreciate challenging installations, performances, and other contemporary pieces that initially mystify her.

An Eye refers to a specialized ability to perceive and understand art that develops through cultivation and experience. In Get the Picture, this term describes more than just physical sight; it represents a sophisticated way of seeing that allows individuals to recognize artistic significance, predict future trends, and derive deeper meaning from artworks. Bosker presents this concept as a skill that art world insiders claim separates casual viewers from true connoisseurs.

After hearing Jack Barrett repeatedly use this term, Bosker picks up on the fact that Barrett considers a “Good Person” to be an insider within the art world who possesses significant social currency and connections. Jack defines Good People as collectors who have extensive networks and are deeply involved in the art world’s social fabric. Good People can help advance artists’ careers and enhance galleries’ reputations through their influence and connections. These individuals are considered ideal collectors because they can give artwork “a life outside” the gallery through their social prominence and art world involvement. Bosker facetiously capitalizes this term throughout the text. She notes that this distinction creates yet another layer of exclusion in the art world.

Bosker uses the term “the Heads” to refer to the influential figures who control and shape the fine art world, including gallery owners, curators, critics, and established artists. She depicts these individuals as gatekeepers who maintain the art world’s hierarchies and determine which artists and artworks achieve prominence. The term suggests both their decision-making power and their role in cultivating specialized knowledge about art.

International Art English, as it’s been labeled by sociologists, is the specialized language used in art criticism and gallery communications that emerged from translated French academic texts in the 1970s. According to researchers Alix Rule and David Levine, this language originated in the art journal October, which published translated works by French theorists like Deleuze, Derrida, and Barthes. International Art English is characterized by abstract terms, complex noun formations ending in “-ity,” and deliberately obscure phrasing that often prioritizes showing intellectual sophistication over clear communication. This specialized language is a marker of insider status in the art world.

“The machine” is a colloquial term used by artists in Get the Picture to describe the complex ecosystem of the contemporary art world, encompassing its social networks, financial structures, and power dynamics. This metaphorical construct includes the intricate relationships between galleries, collectors, museums, critics, and artists, as well as the unwritten rules and hierarchies that govern their interactions. The term suggests both the mechanical efficiency with which the art world processes creativity into commodity and the impersonal nature of its operations. By referring to this system as “the machine,” artists acknowledge its power to transform artistic expression into marketable products while also critiquing its potentially dehumanizing effects.

Modern art refers to artwork created approximately between the 1860s and 1970s. In Get the Picture, Bosker clarifies that this term, despite its name, describes a historical period of artistic production rather than current artwork. This period encompasses numerous influential movements and artistic innovations that laid the groundwork for contemporary art practices.

In the text, “pure” describes galleries and artistic practices that appear to prioritize artistic merit over commercial success. This status requires maintaining a careful balance between financial sustainability and artistic credibility, often achieved through calculated business decisions that must appear incidental rather than strategic. The term reflects the art world’s complex relationship with commerce, in which financial success must seem unintentional to maintain cultural legitimacy.

Gallerist Jack Barrett explained to Bosker that he does not want to sell his artwork to just any “Joe Schmo.” Bosker comes to use the term “Schmo” throughout the text to convey an outsider to the art world who lacks social currency and connections. In the book, Jack describes Schmos as potential buyers who might purchase art but cannot help advance artists’ careers or enhance galleries’ reputations. Schmos are often actively discouraged from participating in the art world, despite having the financial means to purchase art, because they lack the social status and connections valued by galleries and artists.

Stendhal syndrome is a psychosomatic condition characterized by physical and emotional responses such as dizziness, fainting, hallucinations, and panic attacks triggered by exposure to art. Initially documented by an Italian psychiatrist who treated tourists in Florence, the condition is named after the French author Stendhal, who experienced similar symptoms while viewing art in Florence. While some medical professionals attribute these reactions to factors like jet lag or dehydration, Bosker presents Stendhal syndrome as evidence of art’s powerful ability to provoke visceral responses in viewers. In the context of Get the Picture, Stendhal syndrome represents the intense, transformative potential of genuine engagement with art, supporting Bosker’s argument that meaningful art appreciation involves deep emotional and physical responses rather than purely intellectual analysis.

Visual literacy describes the ability to interpret, analyze, and create meaning from visual information. Bosker explores how art world insiders consider this skill increasingly crucial in an image-saturated world. The book presents visual literacy as a learned capability that enables people to understand both artistic works and the broader visual culture that surrounds them.