The internationally bestselling author on how art can help us appreciate life in all its strange and exhilarating beauty Artists have learnt to pay attention. The rest of us spend most of our time on autopilot, rushing from place to place, our overfamiliarity blinding us to the marvellous, life-affirming phenomena of our world. But it doesn't have to be this way. In his typically engaging style, Will Gompertz takes us into the minds of artists - from emerging stars to old masters - to show us how to look at and experience the world with their heightened powers of perception. In See What You're Missing we learn, for example, how Rembrandt can help us see ourselves, how David Hockney helps us to see nature, and how Frida Kahlo can help us see through pain. Each artist has their own unique way of looking, which when applied to our own lives stimulates our senses so we might know the intoxicating feeling of being truly alive. 'Art can amaze us into changing our minds. This remarkable book teaches us how' Es Devlin 'Highly engaging and thought-provoking' Philip Hook, author of Breakfast at Sotheby's 'Lucid and revealing' Michael Prodger, The Times 'Will Gompertz is the best teacher you never had' Guardian
Will Gompertz Book order







- 2023
- 2015
Think like an artist ... and lead a more creative, productive life
- 208 pages
- 8 hours of reading
Think Like an Artist by BBC Arts editor Will Gompertz - wisdom and smart thinking from Da Vinci to Ai Weiwei Why do some people seem to find it easy to come up with fresh, brilliant ideas? And how do they turn them into something worthwhile? After spending years getting up close and personal with some of the world's greatest creative thinkers, the BBC's Arts Editor Will Gompertz has discovered a handful of traits that are common to them all. Basic practices and processes that allow their talents to flourish, and which we can adopt - no matter what we do - to help us achieve extraordinary things too. It's time to Think Like An Artist and ... Become Seriously Curious (Caravaggio's discovery of optical lenses changed art for ever.) Think Big Picture and Fine Detail (Turner transformed a masterpiece with a tiny dab of red paint.) And realize ... It's Nearly Always Plan B (Mondrian spent years painting trees before becoming a master of abstraction.) 'Will Gompertz is the best teacher you never had' Guardian
- 2012
What Are You Looking At?
- 464 pages
- 17 hours of reading
What is modern art? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it worth so much damn money? Join 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 Cezanne is better); Pollock is no drip; Dali painted with his moustache; a urinal changed the course of art, why your five year-old really couldn't do it. Refreshing, irreverent and always straightforward, What Are You Looking At? asks all the basic questions that you were too afraid to ask. Your next gallery trip is going to be a little less intimidating and a lot more interesting."