Customer Reviews

Understanding Modern Art (An Usborne Introduction)

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I am an art history professor at the University level. I often teach what we call the "art in the dark" class: large 100+ students survey of art history course that often end up as a weekly 3 hour lecture with slides, in the dark, with confused or sleeping students. My area of study being contemporary conceptual art, I tend to agree with them and bore myself talking about Gothic churches.

I recently decided to teach everything by theme covering artworks that are representations of that theme throughout art history, from caves to contemporary. (ex: the female form, Religion in Art, etc). It gives me the opportunity to cover Modern and contemporary art that would usually get squeezed at the end of the semester. This books has helped me vulgarized my academic jargon to a more approachable way of explaining things. I don't know if I agree about everything that is said in this book, but it is an interesting resource. I wouldn't suggest it if you want an history or Modern art book with disambiguation. This is merely a booklet. There is nothing new in there and just the most usual images and artists found in common survey books. Oriented towards the motivated student or the volunteer docent at the museum.