My review of Why A Painting is Like A Pizza by Nancy G. Heller

 

 

 Liked: 

-how much information was crammed into every page

-plenty of pictures to illustrate points

-the bits of humor 

-the vast amounts of art covered in the novel

-in-depth discriptions of what it is like to see certain paintings, to walk by certain sculptures

-the directions to appreciating avant-garde art and to better apprecaiting all art in general

-many paintings are explained using parts from the artist's life 

 

Disliked:

-the zigzagging characteristic of the novel, in which it skips between many artists and paintings

-not including pictures (or even the names) of quite a few of the works mentioned

-trying to equate a painting to a pizza, which I felt was arbitrary and irrelevent (I realize that the book is designed for people with a limited knowledge and tolerence for abstract art, but I found the analogy poor and the explination for it too offhand.) 

 

I've never read a reflective novel completely about art, and has an artist its very illuminating to learn more about what art historians and "non-artists" believe makes a successful and well-done painting. 

All in all, it is an excellent novel. Very informative, very enjoyable.