{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20261010T034321Z-reviewed-full-unique-works","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525952675?tag=bookfrontie00-20","asin":"0525952675","authors":["Will Gompertz"],"book_id":"9780525952671","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/what-are-you-looking-at-9780525952671","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780525952671.jpg?v=9bee03ceba77cd74","description":"For skeptics, art lovers, and the millions of us who visit art galleries every year—and are confused— What Are You Looking At? by former director of London’s Tate Gallery Will Gompertz is a wonderfully lively, accessible narrative history of Modern Art, from Impressionism to the present day. What is modern art? Who started it? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it such big money? Join BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will change the way you look at modern art forever. From Monet's water lilies to Van Gogh's sunflowers, from Warhol's soup cans to Hirst's pickled shark, hear the stories behind the masterpieces, meet the artists as they really were, and discover the real point of modern art. You will learn: not all conceptual art is bollocks; Picasso is king (but Cézanne is better); Pollock is no drip; Dali painted with his moustache; a urinal changed the course of art; why your 5-year-old really couldn't do it. Refreshing, irreverent and always straightforward, What Are You Looking At? cuts through the pretentious art speak and asks all the basic questions that you were too afraid to ask. Your next trip to the art gallery is going to be a little less intimidating and a lot more interesting. With his offbeat humor, down-to-earth storytelling, and flair for odd details that spark insights, Will Gompertz is the perfect tour guide for modern art. His book doesn’t tell us if a work of art is good; it gives us the knowledge to decide for ourselves.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9780525952671","publication_date":"20121025","publisher":"Penguin Publishing Group","slug":"what-are-you-looking-at","subtitle":"The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art","title":"What Are You Looking At?"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"ART015100","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Modern Art History (to 1945)","score":0.8199,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ART015110","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Contemporary Art History (1945-)","score":0.8052,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ART015030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"European Art","score":0.7879,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"ART015100","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Modern Art History (to 1945)","score":0.8199,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ART015110","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Contemporary Art History (1945-)","score":0.8052,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ART015030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"European Art","score":0.7879,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"ART015100","confidence_band":"high","label":"Modern Art History (to 1945)","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Modern Art History (to 1945)","score":0.8199,"slug":"modern-art-history-to-1945"},{"label":"Contemporary Art History (1945-)","score":0.8052,"slug":"contemporary-art-history-1945"},{"label":"European Art","score":0.7879,"slug":"european-art"}],"reader_fit":["Art-gallery visitors who feel confused by modern art","Readers seeking an accessible history of modern art"],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["David Salle"],"book_id":"9780393354966","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780393354966.jpg?v=27eb12f5cf0d129a","score":0.7514,"title":"How to See","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780393354966"},{"authors":["Camille Jouneaux"],"book_id":"9783791377186","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9783791377186.jpg?v=f1f32bca7e2e1f72","score":0.737,"title":"Leonardo, Frida and the Others","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9783791377186"},{"authors":["Jesse Bryant Wilder"],"book_id":"9781119868668","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781119868668.jpg?v=338675c714c9c914","score":0.7365,"title":"Art History for Dummies","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781119868668"},{"authors":["Laurie Schneider Adams"],"book_id":"9781780745428","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781780745428.jpg?v=b6a575889822e768","score":0.7358,"title":"Nineteenth-century Art","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781780745428"},{"authors":["Edward Brooke-Hitching"],"book_id":"9781797221762","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781797221762.jpg?v=eae7d3cade5b4424","score":0.7323,"title":"The Madman's Gallery","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781797221762"},{"authors":["Marion Augustin"],"book_id":"9780823446483","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780823446483.jpg?v=20d360b9491fb032","score":0.7197,"title":"The History of Western Art in Comics Part Two: From the Renaissance to Modern Art","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780823446483"},{"authors":["Janetta Rebold Benton"],"book_id":"9780500296653","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780500296653.jpg?v=c031a0ae3eac80c6","score":0.7126,"title":"The History of Western Art","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780500296653"},{"authors":["Philip Guston"],"book_id":"9780241525715","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780241525715.jpg?v=46a5471cab4bd5f7","score":0.7121,"title":"I Paint What I Want to See","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780241525715"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:art history"],"label":"History","score":0.4536,"slug":"history"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Modern art history, Understanding and interpreting art, Artists and their works.","Themes: History.","Reading lane: Modern Art History (to 1945) and Contemporary Art History (1945 )."]},"llm_signals":{"confidence":0.95,"pacing":"unknown","reader_fit":["Art-gallery visitors who feel confused by modern art","Readers seeking an accessible history of modern art"],"themes":["Modern art history","Understanding and interpreting art","Artists and their works"],"tropes":[]},"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":true,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":887,"goodreads_ratings_count":14332,"goodreads_reviews_count":716,"quality_score":0.9716}}