Do you enjoy mooching around art galleries but wish you ‘understood’ it all a bit more? Ever gawped at a piece of modern art, only to conclude, frustrated, that you just don’t ‘get it’? As the BBC’s art editor, and former Tate Gallery director, Will Gompertz certainly doesn’t have this problem — but he’s aware that thousands of gallery visitors do, writes Abi Jackson.

What Are You Looking At? (Viking, £20) aims to change that, and first and foremost, Gompertz is keen to point out that you don’t need to be intimidated by modern art, as it’s often a lot more simple than you might think.

Not all modern art is weird, abstract and indecipherable (think Monet, for instance), though some of it might at first appear so. Then there are those pieces that aren’t really works of art, in the traditional sense, but statements (starting with Marcel Duchamp’s urinal).

Gompertz distinguishes between the two (thereby letting you off the hook for sometimes ‘disagreeing’ with it!) and takes the reader through the series of isms (impressionism, cubism, expressionism) which make up modern art.

In clear, easy-to-follow language, he explains what each really means, putting them into historical and social context.

It’s an immensely enjoyable, interesting read for novice art-lovers and long-time gallery-goers alike. By the end of the book, you won’t be an expert but you’ll certainly ‘get’ modern art a lot more, and be free to enjoy it without worrying that you don’t.

* Will Gompertz will be at Thame Arts and Literature Festival on Sunday, October 14. Other events include Oxford poet Bernard O’Donaghue interviewing novelist Edna O’Brien (Saturday, October 13). See www.talfestival.org.