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Why Your Five Year Old Could Not Have Done That: Modern Art Explained
by Susie Hodge
Thames and Hudson, 2012
ISBN: 0500290474
224 pages, £10.60
The bufflement that the unitiated feels when confronting a modern work of art is widespread, even so after the break with representational art in the early 20th century.
Often this feeling is accompanied with contempt towards the world of contemporary art, that is perceived as elitist, snobbish and detached from the experiences and needs of most people.
The author aims to bridge this distance, and to explain in everyday language the motivations, the influences and the environment artists have been working in for the last 100 years. She achieves it to a great extent, helping the reader to understand better the context of modern artworks and judge for themselves their value.
The books details 100 artworks, providing a couple of pages for each one. The format and the photographs are exceptional, and you do get an enriched point of view. What I found missing was a more explicit discussion of the various art movements, but the book did entice me to look for them in other books.
All in all, an informative, entertaining and easy way into a subject that is so intersting but not that friendly to an outsider. I would recommend it!
Why Your Five Year Old Could Not Have Done That: Modern Art Explained
by Susie HodgeThames and Hudson, 2012
ISBN: 0500290474
224 pages, £10.60
The bufflement that the unitiated feels when confronting a modern work of art is widespread, even so after the break with representational art in the early 20th century.
Often this feeling is accompanied with contempt towards the world of contemporary art, that is perceived as elitist, snobbish and detached from the experiences and needs of most people.
The author aims to bridge this distance, and to explain in everyday language the motivations, the influences and the environment artists have been working in for the last 100 years. She achieves it to a great extent, helping the reader to understand better the context of modern artworks and judge for themselves their value.
The books details 100 artworks, providing a couple of pages for each one. The format and the photographs are exceptional, and you do get an enriched point of view. What I found missing was a more explicit discussion of the various art movements, but the book did entice me to look for them in other books.
All in all, an informative, entertaining and easy way into a subject that is so intersting but not that friendly to an outsider. I would recommend it!
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