Why Your Five-Year-Old Couldn't Do It Modern Art Explained - Thames and Hudson

In the past, assessing an artist's stance heavily emphasized their technical ability to accurately reproduce the real world on paper or canvas, or figures in wood or stone. An official portrait was meant to be a true and faithful likeness, and landscapes had to be recognizable in all details. However, especially after the advent of photography, many artists ceased creating such “true” likenesses in favor of more direct images that aimed to express feelings about their subjects. Often, a “simple” line replaced the careful details of earlier artists. From the beginning of this artistic shift, critics confused the apparent lack of technique with a lack of artistic sophistication, often mocking expressive works as nothing more than untrained efforts by children. Susie Hodge examines 100 works of contemporary art that provoked critical hostility—from Cy Twombly’s scribbled Olympia (1957), primitive yet spontaneous works by Jean-Michel Basquiat (1982), to the seemingly careless chaos of Tracey Emin’s My Bed (1998)—and explains how, far from being insignificant novelties, they are inspirations and logical extensions of the artistic ideas of their time.

She explains how “notorious” works, such as Carl Andre’s Uncarved Blacks (1975)—rectangular arrangements of red cedar blocks, easily copied by a child—occupy unique niches in the history of ideas, demonstrating influences from past artists and themselves influencing subsequent ones. A five-year-old could produce a spinning image like Damien Hirst’s, without understanding the ideas behind it or its place in art history, but this does not mean that such work holds significance for artists and historians. Susie Hodge clearly and definitively explains why contemporary art is not and has never been a child’s play. Through illustrations of works by Hans Arp and Andy Warhol, Hodge places each piece within a cultural context to present an unforgettable vision of contemporary art. This book will help you understand how contemporary art differs from realistic works of earlier centuries, transforming and also informing gallery visits over many years.

The Thames & Hudson brand was founded in 1949 by Walter and Eva Neurath. Their greatest passion and mission was to create a “museum without walls” and to make the world of art and leading scientific research accessible to the broad public. To reflect international perspectives, the company’s name combined the rivers flowing through London and New York, represented in its logo by two dolphins symbolizing friendship and intelligence, one facing east, the other west, suggesting a connection between the Old World and the New.

Today, still an independent, family-owned company, Thames & Hudson is one of the world’s leading publishers of illustrated books with over 2,000 titles printed. It publishes high-quality books across all areas of visual creativity: fine arts, applied arts, decorative arts, performing arts, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and music, as well as archaeology, history, and popular culture. It is also expanding its list of children’s books. Headquartered in London with a sister company in New York and branches in Melbourne, Singapore, and Hong Kong. In Paris, another subsidiary, Interart, distributes books in English within France.

History of Thames & Hudson

Walter Neurath was born in Vienna in 1903. In 1938, he left his hometown—where he ran an art gallery and published illustrated books—for London. Initially, he worked as a production director at Adprint, a company founded by Viennese émigré Wolfgang Foge. Neurath and Foge developed a pioneering concept of what is now called book packaging (or co-publishing), where book ideas are developed, commissioned, produced, and sold by publishers operating across different markets and languages to create large editions and thus reduce unit production costs. Neurath’s concept was the first of many innovations that Thames & Hudson introduced to the publishing world.

Of the ten titles published on Thames & Hudson’s first list in 1950, *English Cathedrals*, with photographs by Martin Hürlimann, was the first and achieved the greatest success. The firm’s strong conviction in the durability of books was evident from the start, and it remained in print until 1971. In the first year of publication, Albert Einstein’s *Out of My Later Years* also appeared, an early indicator of the program’s scope. As the list gradually expanded—growing from ten titles in 1950 to 144 in 1955—the company moved its offices from High Holborn and, in 1956, relocated to a Georgian townhouse at 30 Bloomsbury Street, near Bedford Square, becoming the epicenter of book publishing in London. The manufacturing facility remained at this address, eventually expanding to five buildings by 1999, when it returned to High Holborn.

In 1958, Thames & Hudson launched one of its most renowned series, *World of Art*, which became the foundation of a highly diverse list. Characterized by pocket-sized formats and black spines, the series expanded in just seven years to include 49 titles. Nearly 60 years later, the series boasts over 300 titles, which, according to Christopher Frayling, are “stained with paint copies” in every art school across the country.

Other important series that added depth and prestige to the list include *Ancient People and Places*, edited by Glyn Daniel, who from the 1950s contributed to pioneering interest in archaeology, both in book form and on television. Over 34 titles have been published in this series over 34 years. The large-format *Great Civilizations* series, published in 1961, featured contributions from esteemed scholars such as Alan Bullock, Asa Briggs, Hugh Trevor-Roper, A. J. P. Taylor, and John Julius Norwich.
After building one of the most significant publishing houses in Europe in less than two decades, Walter Neurath died in 1967 at the age of 63. Sculptor Henry Moore wrote that “his death was a loss to our cultural life.” Sir Herbert Read noted that Neurath “more than anyone else was responsible for the revolution in art publishing” and was “one of those rare entrepreneurs who successfully combine business acumen with idealism.” Eva Neurath became chairwoman. Walter’s son, Thomas, who joined the company in 1961 along with his sister Constance, became managing director; Constance later served as artistic director for several decades. Both Thomas and Constance remain on the Thames & Hudson board, as do Thomas’s daughters, Johanna and Susanna.
From producing the first commercial edition of *The Book of Kells* to the triumphant publication of the six-volume *Vincent van Gogh — Letters*, from innovations like “French folds” to the controversial documentation of graffiti art in *Subway Art*, Thames & Hudson has always been at the forefront, both culturally and technically.

The year 2016 marked an extraordinary new chapter for the company, announcing publishing partnerships with two of the world’s most important museums: the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The world of art and scholarship remains at the heart of Thames & Hudson’s publishing program, which remains true to its fundamental principle: providing a “museum without walls.”
Today, Thames & Hudson is a recognizable international brand, a symbol of British publishing. Its extensive catalog includes thousands of original titles, many of which are luxury collector’s editions.