Painting is a visual art. People look at paintings, but they don’t see.
Some see. Some see that painting (or any visual art) is not as much about the object being painted (sketched, drawn, photographed, etc.) as it is about the person doing the painting (sketching, drawing, photographing, etc.) and the person looking at the painting (sketch, drawing… you get the point).
If we wanted to see a picture of a rustic tea kettle, we could all take that picture. And 99% of us would end up with a serviceable but boring photograph of a rustic tea kettle. And just like that same tea kettle photographed by a master photographer, the picture will tell us a lot about the way the person who took the picture looks at the world.
One of the reasons certain images appeal to us is because we recognize some small peculiarity in the way the artist sees things that matches our own way. Another reason is because the artist has done a singularly good job of demonstrating to us the way he sees the subject.
Good art speaks volumes about the person viewing it. It also speaks volumes about the way the person who created it sees the world. Curiously, good art says much less about its subject, despite the misconception that the subject is what art is all about.