Answer to Brycen's Question

Brycen asked: "If art has such a deep meaning, how can some people look at a painting and know exactly what it is trying to convey?"
My first reaction is, do they really know, or do they just think they do?  It might seem perfectly clear to someone what a painting or other work of art signifies, but they might just be projecting their own feelings and experiences onto the work.  On the other hand, they might recognize the symbols being used by the artist and actually understand the work.  Of course, the exact wording of the question changes the answer.  I'm not sure it's possible to know exactly what the artist was trying to convey unless the observer knows the artist and what he or she was thinking at the time the art was created.