After Modern Art, 1945-2000 Book

As an art history student, this book proved immensely useful as this is the type of knowledge that is expected of me. Of course, this doesn't mean that I have to like everything I read and learnt from the book, but I am obliged to understand it. My decision to buy After Modern Art was partly influenced by my wanting to give modern and postmodern art a second chance since neither have impressed me very much in the past. Hopkins pleasantly surprised me quite a few times throughout the book with his theories and explanations, while he seemed a bit unconvincing in others. Then again, maybe I'm just a tough nut to crack.

The works and artists I found in the book are diverse, which is why I cannot give a general statement. I found some artists that truly inspired me, while there were also those who simply didn't seem like they knew what they were doing. What I liked about Hopkins is that he was very objective when criticizing all of their works; he stated facts, gave objective analyses, compared works to one another based on similar themes, techniques or approaches to a certain subject. All in all, he was very concise and professional.


Even though it seems as though I will have to reread the book at least one more time to fully understand it, it will be worth it. Most of my prejudices towards modern and postmodern art have disappeared thanks to this wonderful book and I hope the ones that are left over will too after the second reading.