Seven different approaches to apply when attempting to makes sense of modern art are given here: history, biography, aesthetics, experience, theory, criticism and the market.

Simon Morley is a visual artist and Assistant Professor in the College of Arts, Dankook University, Republic of Korea. He has lectured at such museums as Tate, The National Gallery, Hayward Gallery, Serpentine Gallery, Whitechapel Gallery and Camden Arts Centre, and has contributed to numerous publications including Third Text, World Art, the TLS, The Burlington Magazine, Art Monthly, The Art Newspaper, Contemporary Art and the Independent on Sunday.

Contents The Red Studio, Henri Matisse (1869-1954) ¿ Bottle of Vieux Marc, Glass, a Guitar and Newspaper, 1913, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) ¿ Black Square, Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) ¿ Fountain, Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) ¿ The Empty Mask, René Magritte (1898-1967) ¿ New York Movie Theater, Edward Hopper (1882-1967) ¿ Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair, Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) ¿ Head VI, Francis Bacon (1909-1992) ¿ Black on Maroon, Mark Rothko (1903-1970) ¿ Big Electric Chair, Andy Warhol (1928-1987) ¿ Infinity Mirror Room - Phalli's Field, Yayoi Kusama (b. 1929) ¿ The Pack, Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) ¿ Spiral Jetty, Robert Smithson (1938-1973) ¿ Osiris and Isis, Anselm Kiefer (b. 1945) ¿ Untitled (I shop therefore I am), Barbara Kruger (b. 1945) ¿ A Book from the Sky, Xu Bing (b. 1955) ¿ The Messenger, Bill Viola (b. 1951) ¿ Maman, Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) ¿ Correspondence, Lee Ufan (b. 1936) ¿ Untitled, Doris Salcedo (b. 1958)