What Are You Looking At?: 150 Years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye [Hardcover]

I'm afraid I thought this was going to be much more entertaining than it was. I know a bit about modern art and art history in general, which helped to fill in the gaps where this book is of necessity sketchy. It's very hard to fit 150 years of art appreciation into about four hundred pages, so some things have to go, but I am not sure on what basis Gompertz picked what he included and what he left out. it seems a very personal journey through the history of art, and what interests Gompertz does not always interest me. I found the whole tone of the work uneven, and some sections downright stodgy. The blurb gives the impression that this is a lively and humorous romp through art history. Gompertz himself admits in the introduction to imagining discussions between painters in various sections to 'liven things up'. I was, frankly, disappointed, in that they did not seem particularly lively and the whole section with the Impressionists in the cafe was as dull as ditchwater. If you're going to imagine a conversation between ground breaking artists, at least give it some welly.

The main problem with this book is that Gompertz talks about a lot of art work, but gives us pictures of few of them. Some of the pictures are badly reproduced black and white photos, which in a book about art is inexcusable in my opinion. The colour illustrations were few and far between and larded together in two small sections rather than inserted into the chapters they are relevant to. I struggle to understand too why valuable colour plate space was given to illustrating what a colour wheel is, rather than showing us the actual art works.

I enjoyed Gompertz's enthusiasm for his subject but this book was perhaps not the best way to showcase it, in my opinion.

The blurb for this enlightening & entertaining volume gives the reader the impression that it will be an open minded & balanced view of modern art.
The writer is very much biased so if you're after a calm study of where modern art fits into art history as a whole you may be a little disappointed.

However, that said, Gompertz' sheer enthusiasm for his subject is infectious & if, like me, you're knowledge of modern art is basics only then he really does open up what has been a closed area for the uninitiated.

His introduction covering Marcel Duchamp is entertaining & fascinating. He moves on to impressionism but this is the one area in the whole book that is dry as toast & frankly offers little new.
Once back onto home territory he once again picks up the pace & drags the reader along for a very enjoyable ride clear through to todays crowd of Hurst & Emin etc.

The beauty of this work for me is both it's simplicity & the fact that you don't have to like every work being discussed to appreciate the skill & influence involved. It also has to be said that humour is used throughout & although he may be a fan of the genre's involved the writer doesn't baulk at poking fun at pomposity, ridiculousness & sometimes downright lunacy, ( the section looking at one mans fascist influence is one of many eye openers).

The colour plates are fine but this is not a picture book & both they & the basic images scattered throughout the book serve to help discuss & explain whats being said very effectively.

If you love art but have found the modern to be something of a confusing & frankly poor relation then this title is a must. It may not convert you to abandon whatever genre's appeal to you most but it will open up new understanding & often enjoyment of a subject that has been allowed to be guarded by the pompous & long winded for far to long.

Very enjoyable, easy to understand & a font of much knowledge. This is an excellent look at the history, meaning & influence of modern art & the huge array of often potty characters who have been involved. A great read that will be returned to often.

Irrespective of my views on Modern Art and whether or not I agree with the author's point of view I have to give this book five stars for the total mastery of the subject and the ability to keep the narrative flowing in a straightforward and humorous way. Will Gompertz is one of a rare species who is an an absolute master of his chosen field but does not take himself too seriously. Might help he has done a stand-up comedian's act about Modern Art, in fact with some of the stuff he has to review and write about - I'm sure a stand-up comedian's attitude is a big plus.

The book, some 450 pages, takes us on a fairly chronological journey through the world of Modern Art starting with the Pre-Impressionists up to multi million pound selling articles ( I cannot bring myself to call all of them 'works of art') that have been through the salerooms in recent years.

Art, especially what is loosely termed Modern Art means different things to different people, I have a very simple rule which applies to all Art including music - do I like it? I love Dali, like some Picasso, have several reasonable (ie affordable) Brazilian Abstracts on my dining room walls, find early Soviet Art and some later Soviet 'Propaganda' works interesting, love posters especially from the Spanish Civil War and have a passion for some of the psychedelic work of the 1960's & 70's, especially album covers. Will Gompertz, will all his passion, has a hard time convincing me that things like "Two Fried Eggs and a Kebab" (Sarah Lucas 1992) or Tracey Emin's "Tent of those I have slept with" and other items are truly works of art.

We get the stories behind all the 'masterpieces' from Van Gogh's sunflowers to Hirst's pickled shark via Cubism, Dadaism, Pop Art and everything else in between, before and after. As I mentioned, Gompertz really knows his stuff, as you would expect from someone who for seven years was director of the Tate Modern and there is no pretentious intellectualism or gooblegook speak, all written in good, clear, understandable English. Aimed at those who would like to know a little more about what they are looking at and would like to know why their five year old son, daughter or tame pet parrot could not do better. You might not end up convinced about all of it but it sure as hell is an interesting and thought stretching journey.

One important thing - this is book of narrative, not a coffee table sized volume of glossy prints on luxurious photo paper, there are only 16 pages of colour prints and another 39 black and white, mainly half page illustrations in the rest of the book. Like my daughter said when I mentioned this fact - what do you want for twenty quid? In fact only twelve if you buy from Amazon.