What Are You Looking At?

150 Years of Modern Art in the Blink of an Eye

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Summary

What is modern art? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it worth so much damn money? Join Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will change the way you look at modern art forever. From Monet's water lilies to Van Gogh's sunflowers, from Warhol's soup cans to Hirst's pickled shark, hear the stories behind the masterpieces, meet the artists as they really were, and discover the real point of modern art.

You will learn: not all conceptual art is bollocks; Picasso is king (but Cézanne is better); Pollock is no drip; Dali painted with his moustache; a urinal changed the course of art, why your five year-old really couldn't do it. Refreshing, irreverent and always straightforward, What Are You Looking At? asks all the basic questions that you were too afraid to ask. Your next gallery trip is going to be a little less intimidating and a lot more interesting.

Reviews

Will Gompertz is the best teacher you never had
Guardian

About the author

Will Gompertz

Will Gompertz is a world-leading expert in and champion of the arts. Having spent seven years as a Director of the Tate Galleries followed by eleven years as the BBC's Arts Editor and two years as Artistic Director at the Barbican, he is now the director of the Sir John Soane's Museum. Gompertz has interviewed and observed many of the world's leading artists, actors, writers, musicians, directors and designers. Creativity magazine in New York ranked him as one of the 50 most original thinkers in the world. He is the author of the internationally bestselling What Are You Looking At? and Think Like an Artist, both translated into more than twenty languages.

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