Great works of art cannot be fully understood in a single encounter. This is perhaps even truer for modern artworks that may not immediately make sense to, or even appeal to, the casual observer. Viewing an artwork-- whether it is a painting, sculpture, installation, video, or photograph-- as a whole is one method of interacting with it, but a deeper understanding can only be gained by analyzing it in detail.

Modern Art in Detail: 75 Masterpieces spotlights the finer points that even connoisseurs may miss. The book includes all the minutiae that a quick glance will almost certainly fail to reveal, including subtle internal details. Susie Hodge writes intelligently and informatively about relevant external influences on the artist--everything from global political events to groundbreaking movements such as Cubism, Futurism, and Primitivism, and even scientific and mathematical theories.

This book examines seventy-five artworks from the late nineteenth century to the modern day. It treats each of its subjects on its own merits, but it also views each as part of a tradition that links it to the past, which sees artists pass a baton down through the ages. Moreover, it charts the shift from the supremacy of artistic technique to the dominance of the idea or concept behind the object created.