See What You're Missing: 31 Ways Artists Notice the World and How You Can Too

(Paperback)

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The internationally bestselling author 'offers a tidy lesson in not just getting more from art, but more from life itself' The Times Artists have learnt to pay attention. The rest of us spend most of our time on auto-pilot, rushing from place to place, our overfamiliarity blinding us to the marvellous, life-affirming phenomena of our world. But that doesn't have to be the case. In his typical engaging style, Will Gompertz takes us into the minds of artists - from contemporary stars to old masters, the well-known to the lesser-so, and from around the world - to show us how to look and experience the world with their heightened awareness. In See What You're Missing we learn, for example, how Hasegawa Tohaku can help us to see beauty, how David Hockney helps us to see colour, and how Frida Kahlo can help us see pain. In doing so we come to know the exhilarating feeling of being truly alive.

Reviews

Offers a tidy lesson in not just getting more from art, but more from life itself . . . lucid and revealing . . . Gompertz is at his bestMichael Prodger, The Times

Art can amaze us into changing our minds. This remarkable book teaches us howEs Devlin

Highly engaging and thought-provokingPhilip Hook, author of Breakfast at Sothebys

By going straight to the essence of each one's work, Will Gompertz provides a fluent and refreshing introduction to the way art can enable us, in the most unexpected ways, to see the world anewMichael Peppiatt

Gompertz insightfully explores the processes and personalities of a remarkable roster of artists . . . effortless prose and laser focus on the communicative potential of art make this a worthwhile readJames Woods Marshall, Library Journal

Thorough and diverse . . . Gompertz's illuminations of artists' lives and minds are accessible and full of valuable information. This is an exhilarating resource for personal growth, a consciousness-raising exploration for artists and art lovers, and an asset for anyone interested in the who, what, and why of great artworksBooklist

Gompertz doesn't have it in him to be boringThe Times

Will Gompertz is the best teacher you never hadGuardian

He is a natural communicator whose passion for art is expressed with wit and verveSir Nicholas Serota, Chair of Arts Council England

Hugely accessible . . . writes about difficult things without letting on that they are difficultIndependent on Sunday on What Are You Looking At

Author Bio

Will Gompertz is a world-leading expert in, and champion of, the arts. Having spent seven years as a Director of the Tate Galleries followed by eleven years as the BBC's Arts Editor, he is now Artistic Director at the Barbican. Will has interviewed and observed many of the world's leading artists, actors, writers, musicians, directors and designers. Creativity magazine in New York ranked him as one of the 50 most original thinkers in the world. He is the author of the internationally bestselling What Are You Looking At and Think Like an Artist, both translated into more than 20 languages.