Why a Five-Year-Old Can't Do This

In the past, an artist’s reputation was directly tied to their ability to faithfully transfer the real world onto canvas or paper. It was expected that a portrait would look exactly like the model, and a landscape painting would contain every detail of the scenery. However, with the arrival of photography, many artists stopped creating "lifelike" paintings and began seeking ways to express the emotional states of their subjects. A simple line now replaced the details that earlier artists had meticulously crafted. From the beginning of this sudden shift in artistic pursuits, critics mocked these expressionist works, comparing them to the untrained efforts of children and confusing the apparent technical "flaws" with a lack of artistic competence and skill. In this delightful and thought-provoking book, Susie Hodge examines 100 modern artworks—ranging from Marcel Duchamp to Paul Klee, and from Salvador Dalí to Picasso—that were once subjected to critical hostility, and explains how they were inspired by the artistic ideas of their time. A five-year-old child could create a "spin painting" like one of Damien Hirst's, but it would hold no significance for artists or historians because the child would not understand the ideas behind the history of artistic creation. In this work, Susie Hodge clearly and thoroughly explains why modern art is not, and never will be, child's play. Featuring images from Hans Arp’s works to Warhol’s, this book explains the discussed pieces within their cultural context and provides a wonderful presentation of modern art. Through this, you will have the opportunity to understand how modern art differs from the realistic works of previous centuries.