Think like an artist : and lead a more creative, productive life

189 Pages·2016·4.68 MB·English

by  Gompertz

In Order of Appearance …
Ninette de Valois Frederick Ashton Andy Warhol Vincent van Gogh Theaster
Gates Bridget Riley Roy Lichtenstein David Ogilvy Marina Abramović Gilbert
& George Caravaggio Picasso
J. J. Abrams Piero della Francesca Luc Tuymans Johannes Vermeer Peter Doig
Rembrandt
Kerry James Marshall Michelangelo Ai Weiwei
David Hockney Marcel Duchamp Bob and Roberta Smith

By the same author
What Are You Looking At?
Editor: Michael Sand
Designer: Darilyn Lowe Carnes
Production Manager: Anet Sirna-Bruder
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015957311
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2183-0
eISBN: 978-1-61312956-2
Copyright © 2015 Will Gompertz
First published in the United Kingdom by Penguin Books Ltd.
Published in 2016 by Abrams Image, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights
reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
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In memoriam
Steve Hare
Contents
Preface
Introduction
1. Artists Are Enterprising
Andy Warhol, Vincent van Gogh, Theaster Gates
2. Artists Don’t Fail
Bridget Riley, Roy Lichtenstein, David Ogilvy
3. Artists Are Seriously Curious
Marina Abramović, Gilbert & George, Caravaggio
4. Artists Steal
Picasso
5. Artists Are Skeptics
J. J. Abrams, Piero della Francesca
6. Artists Think Big Picture and Fine Detail
Luc Tuymans, Johannes Vermeer
7. Artists Have a Point of View
Peter Doig, Rembrandt, Kerry James Marshall
8. Artists Are Brave
Michelangelo, Ai Weiwei
9. Artists Pause for Thought
David Hockney, Marcel Duchamp
10. All Schools Should Be Art Schools
Bob and Roberta Smith
11. A Final Thought
Acknowledgments
Illustration and Photographic Credits
PREFACE
We cannot all paint like Picasso or sculpt like Michelangelo, but we can all think
like an artist.
When Marcel Duchamp asked, “Why does art have to be beautiful?” in 1917, he
changed art forever. You or I could have done that. And we could have sparked
an entire art movement like Damien Hirst did in 1991 by convincing an art
dealer to pay to put a dead shark in a tank of formaldehyde.
Even the mighty Cézanne is within our reach. He realized in the late nineteenth
century that a subject shown from two different viewpoints in the same painting
appeared more urgent and honest. Why? Because that’s how we see: with two
eyes, not one. It was the insight that led to modernism in all its forms. We could
have figured that out.
So, why don’t we come up with great ideas if they’re so easy? Well, we can.
And my hope is that this book will help show you how.
INTRODUCTION
Creativity is a hot topic. It is a subject that’s exciting politicians, academics and
wise men and women the world over. They say it is very important. That it will
be central to our future prosperity. Which is all well and good. But what exactly
is creativity and how does it work?
And why do some people appear to find it easy to come up with brilliant, fresh
ideas while others don’t? Is it simply a case of “creative types” being
programmed differently, or does it have more to do with behavior and attitude?