DISCOVER ITS HISTORY
You are well on your way to victory, my friend. Just stopping to NOTICE and consider the attraction of a piece of art is foundational (instead of panicking in Step 1 ;). And taking a few minutes to OBSERVE the details of how it was put together? Priceless. When you are at the gallery, after having described the elements (in Step 2), you can now do a little background check...just read the little blurb usually located nearby or use Google to discover little tidbits about the artist's life, the work, the era and place, the materials used, etc.
This gives you CONTEXT and a deeper understanding of possible motives, attitudes or purpose/meaning needed for later analysis. For example, featured here is Eugene Delacroix's large (over 8' x10') oil painting of “Liberty Leading the People”*...It was painted in the ROMANTIC period (basically means what is sounds like) and was done to commemorate the French Revolution,1830. Context. You are on YOUR way to victory to, so onward and upward to to Step 4!
Follow my blog to catch the entire 7 step Gallery Tour.
*public domain