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Blind and Visually Impaired Community

Full History - 2021 - 11 - 08 - ID#qp8mw2
18
Resource that describes paintings/art to the visually impaired? (self.Blind)
submitted by Monkeyonstrike
I am hoping to find a resource that describes artworks in art history for the blind or visually impaired. I'm hoping to find something that focuses on brief descriptions of what is in a painting or other piece of art.

Something like: "A man stands in the center of the canvas, facing the viewer. He is wearing a suit and a bowler hat. There is a green apple floating in front of his face with a few leaves on it. The man stands in front of a short wall. There is a cloudy seascape in the background."

I've tried to find something like this online but it has been hard to track down an extensive resource.
Motya105 3 points 1y ago
There are free audio guides, either as iPhone apps, (there’s one for Boston’s Museum Of Fine Arts which features detailed painting descriptions), or as downloadable audio files, the British Museum has Mp3s with gallery descriptions on their website. Some Wikipedia pages about certain paintings include descriptions of them.
Monkeyonstrike [OP] 3 points 1y ago
Thanks I'll look into the audio guides! Wikipedia is the closest to what I'm looking for but I was hoping to find something that has smaller, more digestible descriptions. I'll keep hunting!
Motya105 3 points 1y ago
There may be books which are broad introductions to certain periods or painters, which may feature digestible painting descriptions since they’re written for a general audience. Kind of like what you see in Alex Ross’s “The Rest Is Noise,” a book about classical music, featuring concise descriptions of the music discussed, but for visual art. Scouring the Art category of a book website like Bookshare or Open Library may help you find a useable book. You could also post to an Art History Subreddit, the users there may know whether such descriptions exist, and where they can be found. You could use a service like Be My Eyes or Aira, to get descriptions, though they may lack some of the insight you seek. Another idea is getting in touch with docents at a museum, via a museum’s website— oftentimes, the docents giving tours are artists themselves, so can provide artistic insight as well as concise descriptions of various paintings. A museum’s Accessibility department can often help with getting in touch with docents.
WorldlyLingonberry40 2 points 1y ago
Hi, Google Art is an app you can load. It offers detailed descriptions of peaces of art, among other stuff.
Monkeyonstrike [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Thank you for the recommendation! This is a cool app that I'll have to spend some time with.
thatawkwardcosplayer 2 points 1y ago
Most museums (US / CA / MEX) have audio guides for free! If you aren’t there in person, calling will usually get you a cheap copy of it. Even smaller city / local ones tend to have it.
Mine usually cost around $10-20 but each.
Some places also do have tactile displays!
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