How to Look at Modern Art - Softcover

This introductory volume supplies a clear, informative overview of the major developments in art from the late 19th century to the present. In the process, Yenawine provides accessible guidelines for deriving meaning from an artwork without knowing any biographical or philosophical data about its creator. Focusing primarily "on paintings and other two-dimensional art," the author breaks the act of observation down into five categories: "physical properties, subject, illusionary and formal properties, and viewer perspectives," giving examples relevant to each category. About the physical properties of Robert Rauschenberg's First Landing Jump, for instance, we learn that the work's tire, plank, tarpaulin and license plate point toward an "on the road" theme. Generously illustrated with works by such artists as Giorgio De Chirico, Salvador Dali, Georgia O'Keeffe, Piet Mondrian, Jasper Johns, Cindy Sherman and Eric Fischl, this volume offers art neophytes an engaging entry to the fundamental methods of perceiving. Yenawine is director of education at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. QPB alternate.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This upbeat text ("I Know You Can Do It" urges the first subheading) assumes considerable knowledge about major artists and styles. Yenawine promotes "directed looking"--seeing what can be learned from direct observation rather than from acquiring background information. The usual platitudes are well articulated: modern art challenges accepted conventions and expectations; the primacy of personal vision; the centrality of ideas over objects; the emphasis on geometry and dynamism; and the interplay between art and popular culture. The methodology is equally familiar, from analyzing formal elements to examining technique and motivations to sorting the vast diversity and dealing with multiple and contradictory meanings. Heavily illustrated (137, 62 in color), interpretive paragraph-length captions and a "Useful Vocabulary" are helpful. However, a more satisfying work for novice viewers is Susan Woodford's Looking at Pictures (Cambridge, 1983).
- Russell T. Clement, Brigham Young Univ. Lib., Provo, Ut.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.