Customer Reviews
Disappointing - By: Demi Grammatopoulos, 18 Mar 2008 
I was so exhilarated by Collings' Channel 4 mini-series "This is civilisation" that I had to search the web to find something similar in book form. I didn't, but came across This is modern art, with its amazon.co.uk collection of high ratings, which convinced me to take the plunge. I don't know, this may be a personal issue, but I think I can generallly appreciate good writting, even when it's not to my taste. This book, however, I found confusedly written, with no flow & no inspiration. As I say, it may be just me, or it may be that Collings comes across better on tv. Nonetheless, I thought it healthy to add my view as a healthcheck on the total.
Idiosyncratic introduction to contemporary art - By: Johnny Blue, 21 Feb 2008 
Well-illustrated & easy to read but highly idiosyncratic & selective. Collings is good on those artists he knows personallly or has interviewed for his TV shows but this is to the detriment of many important & influential artists who are ignored completely or mentioned only in passing. Highly recommended as an introduction to the field but please don't think this is definitive (let alone "the Bible") - I am sure Collings would make no such claims. And if you are in doubt as to which is the better, this or his other contribution "Blimey" I can reassure you this is the better by far.
Something to get your teeth into - By: Mrs. K. A. Wheatley, 16 Jan 2008 Collings' writing style will not be for everyone. He can be quite infuriatingly dense about some artists or concepts, & I found myself having to reread some sentences several times to see if it was 'just me'. It wasn't. On the other hand, most of the time he writes about art in a very accessible, & interesting way. His seems to be a fairly personal view, which is not going to suit anyone looking for an authoritative guide to art, but it is entertaining & thought provoking.
The paragraphs are quite clipped, & he just gets into his stride only to move to another subject or idea or artist, which when I was enjoying myself I found quite frustrating. I wanted more. This is not a particularly bad thing. I just found myself on Wikipedia a lot.
There are good illustrations, unlike some art books, & plenty of them. What could be a little challlenging was him talking about paintings or works for which there were then no accompanying illustrations, which then sent me back to Wiki.
The potted history of the artists in the margins is a useful feature. I liked the way the book was broken up into manageable chapters & sub headings within chapters. The balance of prose to pictures was good. All in alll a very satisfactory book given the dearth of affordable & useful books on what modern art actuallly is.
Breezy and informal introduction to modern art - By: , 04 Dec 2002 
Collings has a breezy writing style that exactly matches the way he talks on television during the Turner Prize or on one of his documentaries. It won't appeal to alll readers, but if you've got a sense of humour about modern art (for example you found Craig-Martin's Oak Tree in the Tate Modern amusing), you'll definitely like this book. Collings isn't afraid to tell you that he doesn't reallly know what some pieces of art are about, or that he is only guessing. I've re-read this book several times, & I still enjoy it.
Explaining how great the Master Collings is - By: , 29 Dec 2001 Reading this book was a reallly refreshing experience. Matthew Collings must be one of the only art critics in alll history who A: Knows something about art & B: Doesn't talk complete bull****. As an art lover & artist my self I can honestly say this is one of the most humourous, truthful & enlightening books I have read in a long, long time.
