A History of Pictures: From the Cave to the Computer Screen

About the Author David Hockney is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century. He has produced work in almost every medium - painting, drawing, stage design, photography and printmaking - and has stretched the boundaries of all of them. Born in Bradford, England, in 1937, Hockney attended art school in London before moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s. There, he painted his famous swimming pool paintings. In a 2011 poll of more than 1,000 British artists, Hockney was voted the most influential British artist of all time. He continues to create and exhibit art. Martin Gayford is art critic for The Spectator and the author of acclaimed books on Van Gogh, Constable and Michelangelo. He is the author of Man with a Blue Scarf, Rendez-vous with Art and A Bigger Message. He has collaborated with David Hockney on A Bigger Message: Conversations with David Hockney and A History of Pictures, and has co-written a volume of travels and conversations with Philippe de Montebello: Rendez-vous with Art. Product Description The making of pictures has a history going back perhaps 100,000 years to an African shell used as a paint palette. Two-thirds of it is irrevocably lost, since the earliest images known to us are from about 40,000 years ago. But what a 40,000 years, explored here by David Hockney and Martin Gayford in a brilliantly original book. They privilege no medium, or period, or style, but instead, in 16 chapters, discuss how and why pictures have been made, and insistently link ‘art’ to human skills and human needs. Each chapter addresses an important question: What happens when we try to express reality in two dimensions? Why is the ‘Mona Lisa’ beautiful and why are shadows so rarely found in Chinese, Japanese and Persian painting? Why are optical projections always going to be more beautiful than HD television can ever be? How have the makers of images depicted movement? What makes marks on a flat surface interesting? Energized by two lifetimes of looking at pictures, combined with a great artist’s 70-year experience of experimentation as he makes them, this profoundly moving and enlightening volume will be the art book of the decade. Review 'What makes some pictures a masterpiece? Who better to explain than our greatest living artist, as he teams up with art critic Martin Gayford to open your eyes to the works of genius he holds dear' --Mail on Sunday 'His sharp and often delightfully slanted take on pictures, explained in clear terms, crisps up perceptions and help readers to look anew.'--Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times 'Wonderful ... Apart from the sumptuous avalanche of reproductions, the book consists of paragraphs in which the two proprietors speak alternately. It's a measure of Hockney's vividness of perception that he can always put a cap on Gayford s knowledge ... fabulous'--Clive James, Guardian 'Will keep any intelligent person amused and intrigued ... [Hockney] asks big questions about the nature of picture-making and the relationship between painters and photography in a way that no other contemporary artist seems to do ... enormously good-humoured and entertaining ... On almost every page, there is an interesting provocation'--Andrew Marr, New Statesman 'I won't read a more interesting book all year ... utterly fascinating' --AN Wilson, The Sunday Times 'Thought-provoking … like hearing from superbly well-informed and enthusiastic friends, because the format, the superbly chosen illustrations for the entire history of image-making and the design of the book itself make its contents unusually accessible, allowing them still to be argumentative, stimulating, even at times unexpected, and totally engaging' --Marina Vaizey, V&A Magazine A brilliantly original and illustrated exploration into how and why pictures are made, and the pair share sparkling insights and ideas. Art lovers will go wild.’ -- Woman & Home ‘Elegant and often surprising…Hockney flags up a topic and Gayfor