Will Gompertz : See What You’re Missing

Interesting online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum launching Will Gompertz’s new book on looking and perception and in particular how artists of the 20th century changed the way we look.

Gompertz, artistsic director of The Barbican since June 2021 and previously art’s editor for the BBC, talked about how he came to write the book with lively anecdotes then talked us though some of the major shifts in art in the last century and in contemporary art which have been driven by looking.

He began with Cezanne and how he reduced a landscape to a series of geometric blocks and yet we see it as a landscape. He said that one person asking one question can change art. He then took us through Cubism, Expressionism, Duchamp etc up to Tracey Emin. It was all told lightly and easily and was a perfect Thursday night unwind.

The talk was also delivered in person at the museum but I opted for the online version with my own wine at home! I am also seeing Gompertz at the Charleston festival in a couple of months’ time so it will be interesting to see how the talk develops and who they group him with.