This considerably revised and updated version of David Hopkins' bestselling study of art since 1945 provides the most useful succinct study of art since the Second World War currently available. Contemporary art can be baffling and dazzling, provocative and disturbing, but the author leads the reader through a complex and controversial phase of arts history with both clarity and attention to detail. Focusing mainly on the relationship between American and European art, the narrative is driven by the theoretical innovations and political dynamics of the period, whilst preserving a clear sense of the major artists and movements (Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Conceptual Art, Performance Art, Postmodernism, and Relational Art). Key figures such as Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Louise Bourgeois, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Shirin Neshat, and Isaac Julien are all discussed in depth. The final chapter offers an innovative reading of art since 2000, discussing shifts in the art world linked to globalization alongside the core issues facing contemporary practice. An up-to-date study, containing fresh insights on numerous topics and pithy responses to ongoing debates, this book constitutes the best short introduction to its subject for specialists and non-specialists alike. Book jacket.