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

David Hockney

ISBN 10: 0500239495 / ISBN 13: 9780500239490

Published by Thames & Hudson Ltd Okt 2016, 2016

About this Item

Neuware - 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 artists 70-year experience of experimentation as he makes them, this profoundly moving and enlightening volume will be the art book of the decade.

Seller Inventory # 9780500239490

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A History of Pictures : From the Cave to the Computer Screen
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd Okt 2016
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500239495
• ISBN 13: 9780500239490
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 287W x 224H x 43D millimeters 287 millimeters width by 224 millimeters height by 43 millimeters depth
• Weight: 2032 grams

About this title

Synopsis

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. Author BiographyDavid 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