What Are You Looking At? The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art

This book is an answer to those who think that modern art is either incomprehensible snobbery or an open deception. What meaning is hidden in “The Black Square” by Malevich? What did Andy Warhol mean by depicting countless cans of tomato soup? And what does a urinal even have to do with it? In his gripping and sometimes shocking account of a one-and-a-half-century history of modern art, Will Gompertz does not set out to judge specific works. Instead, he gives readers a “brief course” in cultural codes—clues that help them navigate today’s art world and understand where the “empty things” are and where a masterpiece is.