Seven Keys to Modern Art

With modern art’s proclivity for self-expression, originality, and the abstract, great works can often seem indecipherable. This book provides the tools to help interpret the seemingly bizarre and often intimidating aspects of modern and contemporary art by exploring twenty works in terms of seven key perspectives: history, biography, aesthetics, experience, theory, criticism, and the market.


Author, artist, and art historian Simon Morley shows how twenty well-known but little-understood works of art can serve as useful gateways not only for understanding each other, but also for appreciating works by the same artists and the wider world of art in general. Morley points to visual and theoretical dimensions of art that are not immediately obvious, reconstructing the perspectives of artists and the context within which works were made. Seven Keys to Modern Art is a liberating approach, offering a highly practical and universally applicable method of art interpretation and appreciation.

Odata cu proclivitatea artei moderne pentru auto-exprimare, originalitate si abstract, operele grozave pot parea adesea indescifrabile. Aceasta carte ofera instrumentele pentru a ajuta la interpretarea aspectelor aparent bizare si adesea intimidante ale artei moderne si contemporane, explorand douazeci de lucrari in termeni de sapte perspective cheie: istorie, biografie, estetica, experienta, teorie, critica si piata. , si istoricul de arta Simon Morley arata cum douazeci de opere de arta bine cunoscute, dar putin intelese, pot servi ca portaluri utile nu numai pentru intelegerea reciproca, ci si pentru aprecierea operelor acelorasi artisti si a lumii mai largi a artei in general.