An Intelligent Person's Guide to Modern Art

Today it is not the audience, the galleries, or the funders who are the problem in modern art, it is the artists. Stephen Farthing, an artist writing from an artist’s perspective, argues that his profession is an organism under constant attack from itself. It creates both stunning works and crass tabloid pieces that pander to the media. In this book, Farthing takes a critical look at his colleagues, offering a radical new approach to art which shuns art historians, connoisseurs and postmodernism. Taking the reader from Eric Gill to Damien Hirst, and from Goering in Nazi German to Saatchi in 1999, he paints a picture of modern art as artists see it—-In this book, Farthing takes a critical look at his colleagues, offering a radical new approach to art which shuns art historians, connoisseurs and postmodernism.an art for everyone to enjoy.

In this book, Farthing takes a critical look at his colleagues, offering a radical new approach to art which shuns art historians, connoisseurs and postmodernism.

Booknews

Farthing (Oxford U.), a painter, offers general help for viewers trying to understand what, according to artists, modern art is, removed from art history, connoisseurship, and the cult of celebrity. Farthing's aim is to demystify art. This he does by describing specific pieces, their creators, and the environment the artists work in, beginning with Van Gogh, "and in doing so (offers) up a way for the reader to look at art which should strip the mystery right out of it and replace it with meaning." A slim volume, scantily illustrated with eight b&w plates, it's indexed by artist name and by artwork title but not by subject. Distributed in the US by IPM. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Stephen Farthing is Master of Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford, and a Professorial Fellow at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. He was elected as a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1998 and his paintings are exhibited throughout the world.