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

Product Description A new, compact edition of David Hockney and Martin Gayford’s brilliantly original book, with a revised final chapter and three entirely new Hockney artworks 'I won't read a more interesting book all year ... utterly fascinating' --AN Wilson, The Sunday Times Informed and energized by a lifetime of painting, drawing and making images with cameras, David Hockney, in collaboration with the art critic Martin Gayford, explores how and why pictures have been made across the millennia. What makes marks on a flat surface interesting? How do you show movement in a still picture, and how, conversely, do films and television connect with old masters? Juxtaposing a rich variety of images – a still from a Disney cartoon with a Japanese woodblock print by Hiroshige, a scene from an Eisenstein film with a Vel�zquez painting – the authors cross the normal boundaries between high culture and popular entertainment, and make unexpected connections across time and media. Building on Hockney’s groundbreaking book Secret Knowledge, they argue that film, photography, painting and drawing are deeply interconnected. Insightful and thought provoking, A History of Pictures is an important contribution to our appreciation of how we represent our reality. This new edition has a revised final chapter with some of Hockney’s latest works, including the stained-glass window in Westminster Abbey. Table of Contents 1. Pictures, Art and History 2. Pictures and Reality 3. Making Marks 4. Shadows 5. Picturing Space and Time 6. Brunelleschi’s Window and Alberti’s Mirror 7. Mirrors and Reflections 8. Paper, Paint and Multiplying Pictures 9. Painting the Stage and Staging Paintings 10. Caravaggio and the Academy of the Lynx-Eyed 11. Vermeer and Rembrandt: the Hand, the Lens and the Heart 12. Truth and Beauty in the Age of Reason 13. The Camera Before and After 1839 14. Photography, Truth and Painting 15. Painting with and without Photography 16. Snapshots and Moving Pictures 17. Movies and Stills 18. The Unending History of Pictures 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 Gayford gives the critical armature: it makes for a refreshing double act. -- Michael Prodger s books of the year, The Sunday Times A sheer pleasure to read and to look