How to Look at Sculpture

Finn ( How to Visit a Museum ), a photographer whose pictures of sculpture have appeared in over 25 books, explains in words and 70 photographs what to look for in any piece of sculpture: finely crafted details; textures inherent in raw materials, as well as those fabricated or refined by an artist; and the form of the whole, alive with emotional ``tension,'' as seen from various angles. Finn advises developing a ``tactile-feeling eye'' and exercising it whenever possible, ``in effect touching . . . with your eyes rather than with your hand''--though if a museum guard is nodding off, a discreet laying-on of hands is also urged. The author's survey of individual works and ways of seeing them, from classical to post-modern and Greek to East Indian, is weak in words but strong in images. When generalizing about the meaning of sculpture in the abstract, Finn fails to convey the special impact of his photographs (``What is remarkable about details in a great figurative work of sculpture is that they ennoble the human form''). But his pictures of nude figures are outstanding, conveying the warmth of flesh in stone. (June)