Brad Finger

Modern Art: The  Groundbreaking Moments

Emmett

A skimming of the waters of modern art from the early 19th century to the 1960s (arguably postmodern art) that makes a good survey introduction to the uninitiated. It is concise yet expansive, covering more than 30 artists across the years, from the more renowned (Manet, Monet, Kandinsky, Pollock) to those less heard-of/discussed (Bridget Riley, Richard Hamilton, Nam June Piak). Connected through a running discussion of similarity and difference (which while implied in the prose, is never explicitly acknowledged as a theme), the book reads as a series of subtle acts of differentiation, with an artist acknowledging the influence of their predecessors and departing from that influence to form their signature approach. Each chapter looks at a specific work of a certain artist, gives a short history of their life, an analysis of the work featured and identifies ways in which their artistic approach can be said to have influenced future art-makers. The analyses of the works are not particularly thorough, but the beginner will fortunately not be daunted or confused by what the book offers, and could even use these analyses more usefully to abstract techniques of reading/critiquing art. As a primer to reading modern art, it promises the alleviation of bafflement, showing the reader where and how to look, in a bid to cultivate appreciation by exposure and exploration.

Modern Art: The Groundbreaking Moments

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