Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art [Paperback]

Nancy G. Heller (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691090521 | ISBN-13: 978-0691090528 | Publication Date: November 1, 2002

The first time she made a pizza from scratch, art historian Nancy Heller made the observation that led her to write this entertaining guide to contemporary art. Comparing modern art not only to pizzas but also to traditional and children's art, Heller shows us how we can refine analytical tools we already possess to understand and enjoy even the most unfamiliar paintings and sculptures.

How is a painting like a pizza? Both depend on visual balance for much of their overall appeal and, though both can be judged by a set of established standards, pizzas and paintings must ultimately be evaluated in terms of individual taste. By using such commonsense examples and making unexpected connections, this book helps even the most skeptical viewers feel comfortable around contemporary art and see aspects of it they would otherwise miss. Heller discusses how nontraditional works of art are made--and thus how to talk about their composition and formal elements. She also considers why such art is made and what it "means."

At the same time, Heller reassures those of us who have felt uncomfortable around avant-garde art that we don't have to like all--or even any--of it. Yet, if we can relax, we can use the aesthetic awareness developed in everyday life to analyze almost any painting, sculpture, or installation. Heller also gives concise answers to the eight questions she is most frequently asked about contemporary art--from how to tell when an abstract painting is right side up to which works of art belong in a museum.

This book is for anyone who agrees with art critic Clement Greenberg that "All profoundly original art looks ugly at first." It's also for anyone who disagrees. It is for anyone who wants to get more out of a museum or gallery visit and would like to be able to say something more than just "yes" or "no" when asked if they like an artist's work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Nancy G. Heller is a godsend for the average Joe who wants to understand modern art. . . . Heller's funny, accessible book is filled with terrific color pictures for us to look at and get an idea about our individual aesthetic preferences. . . . There's no dour intellectual jargon and gobbleygook here, just plain talk for plain folks who dig art and want to know why. -- Gino Vivinetto, St Petersburg Times



This book gives real pleasure and offers a genuine learning experience. Right from the beginning, the author engages the reader with the thought that something that seems so incomprehensible to so many (abstract art) can be understood in the same terms as something as concrete, unthreatening, and comprehensible as a pizza. -- mond Erickson, editor of "Schubert's Vienna



Heller organizes a large body of material coherently. She clearly explains concepts that might otherwise seem novel or complex. She allows space for the critics of the avant-garde. . . . Taken as a whole, Heller's analysis is directed more to creating openness to avant-garde art than to an appreciation or understanding of it. She is not a proselytizer. -- Gresham Riley, Philadelphia Inquirer



In this evocatively titled book, Heller simplifies the complexities of modern avant-garde art, making it palatable and accessible to an uninformed audience. . . . [H]er argument will offer baffled museum and gallery visitors a way to appreciate otherwise difficult work. -- Library Journal



Heller wants to persuade the bewildered that the emperor of contemporary art does in fact have clothes--confusing and abstract clothes, but clothes nonetheless. She realizes that people dislike contemporary art because it makes them feel stupid, so she shies away from the conceptual in favor of formal aspects that everyone can appreciate . . . with jargon-free charm. -- Alix Ohlin, The Wilson Quarterly



Heller realizes that a painting is not like a pizza. She also knows, however, that this and the other homely analogies that pepper her introduction to modern art are entirely appropriate for an audience of curious and suspicious neophytes venturing into difficult terrain. . . . The emphasis on difficult and controversial works, which are compared to more traditional works, to each other, and to common things, introduces various ways of interpreting and evaluating art in the context of specific examples. . . . [S]hort, pithy, and intelligent. -- Choice

Review

Nearly a century after the Armory Show, avant-garde art remains misunderstood by mainstream America. In a practical, industrious country where the fine arts have never been deeply rooted, abstract and conceptual artists are still too often dismissed as silly, untalented, or immoral, with art galleries portrayed as snobbish and greedy. This worsening cultural crisis affects private and public funding, discourages promising new voices, and threatens America's creative future.

Nancy G. Heller's wonderful book arrives in the nick of time. Destined to be a classic of public education, it is lucid, engaging, and ingenious, leading the reader through the difficulties and strategies of avant-garde art. Intended for the general audience, the book is also must reading for teachers throughout the humanities, which have become distracted by jargon and ideology. Heller is an inspiring role model for university scholars, who must recover and renew their central mission of teaching. (Camille Paglia, University Professor and Professor of Humanities, University of the Art ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (November 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691090521
• ISBN-13: 978-0691090528
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A short, readable guide to modern art, March 28, 2003

By 

Mike Windsor (Fort Worth, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art (Paperback)

If you enjoy looking at modern art, have trouble understanding what you are seeing, and want a simple discussion to help your understanding, then this book is for you. The book does not bog down in explaining the various artistic movements. Rather, it gives discussions that help you appreciate diverse art forms, including "stripe" paintings, monochrome paintings, "drip" paintings, and a variety of sculpture (including boxes, fluorescent lights, and "everyday" objects). Ms. Heller often acknoweledges the criticism that these art forms receive, but explains why a child couldn't really do it, and what makes it art. Ms. Heller even devotes a chapter to "commonsense answers" to "often asked questions" about modern art. The reproductions and photos in the book are well done and seem true to color. And, not to be underestimated, the book is short (under 200 pages, but with many photos), readable, and easy to understand without talking down to the readers. After reading the book, you may still not like a painting or sculpture, but you will certainly have a better appreciation for it. I actually take this book to the museum and refer to it, even though I am reading more in-depth books on modern art. I rarely give five-star reviews, but I cannot say enough good things about this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Art: Finally, an English translation, June 30, 2003

By 

Robert C. McRae (Tyler, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art (Paperback)

So much of what I have read about modern art goes in one ear and out the other. I think this is because writers feel obligated to impart a certain body of knowledge to the reader. Nancy Heller, however, starts with the questions people have about modern art and then proceeds to answer them. She even concludes the book with a chapter of answers to questions most asked about modern art.

If you are planning to read your first book about modern art, this is the one. If you are planning to read your very LAST book about modern art, this too is the one.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good choice for those skeptical about 'modern' art, September 25, 2006

By 

Elizabeth A. Root (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Why a Painting Is Like a Pizza: A Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Modern Art (Paperback)

This book is intended to introduce the outsider to 'modern' art, in this context meaning avant garde art after 1900. It left me vaguely dissatisfied, but still it's a helpful introduction. The pizza metaphor didn't work too well for me: if I received a pizza with "vivid red and green peppers, glossy black olives, translucent bits of onion, light brown mushrooms slices", I'd be horrified. I will concede that pizza components can be more or less aesthetically arranged, but there is no arrangement that could make those ingredients appealing to me. And if I was sharing a pizza with someone who likes "garbage" pizzas, I'd want those ingredients all on their side, no matter how it looks. Pizzas are primarily for eating. Of course, I'm extremely literal-minded, which may be my problem with the entire subject.

Heller's take on the matter is that art is whatever people choose to call art, and one is entitled to like or dislike whatever one chooses. I can have no quarrel with that. In that case, Heller's quotation of Ambrose Bierce in The Devil's Dictionary: "Art. This word has no definition" is apt. (I do not mean to imply that this is a problem, not being one for Platonic ideals.) This is not, of course, a universal opinion among art critics, including those championing modern art. I don't sympathize too much with Heller's view of modern artists as persecuted: they can be quite nasty and intolerant in turn. As long as one does not try to separate art into fine art versus graphic art versus design, I will say that many abstract works are visually pleasing. I really like the stripe paintings in figure 18 & 19, but I don't see that they are morally different from wallpaper. And I don't see how Morris Lewis's painting (figure 23) is made intriguing by drip marks.

Heller deals with questions about the difficulty of making modern art, which doesn't bother me, but is apparently of great concern to some people. I didn't like Jackson Pollack's work before I knew he poured on the paint, and I like it neither more nor less for knowing that. Even something that looks easy to do may require a good eye - I can appreciate a certain friend's ability to choose colors and patterns, and I freely admit that I couldn't do the same, even though I have mastered getting dressed.

I really appreciate Heller's efforts, but for the most part, I'm not persuaded that most of these pieces are interesting or would repay the effort that she urges us to put into them. I once saw an Ad Reinhart exhibit at the Guggenheim. Heller et al. are quite right: his black paintings are in fact made up of separate squares. I examined the paintings carefully and read analyses about him, (mostly they pointed out that the black paintings are made up of separate squares), but I still don't know why I should care that they are. I am tired of the phrase: "the artist forces the viewer ... ". This completely underestimates my strength of character.

Despite my obvious lack of enthusiasm for the topic, this is good choice for the baffled: well written, carefully and logically explained. Heller apparently put a great deal of effort into choosing good reproductions. She also included cartoons and other illustrations and quotes that illuminate her points and add to the liveliness and charm of the book. So I have to say that in that sense, she did a good job and gave me what I was looking for. I would just recommend that the reader keep in mind that all art docents don't take as broadminded a view as Heller: some consider art to be a compulsory cult, some consider it as existing to challenge social values (especially of the bourgeousie) and wouldn't consider being visually interesting or beautiful as a legitimate goal. Part of my dissatisfaction is the suspicion that some of these other agendas lurk unacknowledged in Heller's thinking. I also found Phillip Yenawine's How to Look At Modern Art interesting, if not quite as good as this. My favorite book on the subject remains Tom Wolfe's The Painted Word. Readers may also enjoy Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock?, a documentary about the controversy over the authenticity of a work possibly done by Jackson Pollock.