A History of Pictures

From the Cave to the Computer Screen

David Hockney, Martin Gayford

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Thames & Hudson
20 April 2020

Art & Architecture; History of Art & Design Styles

'I won't read a more interesting book all year... utterly fascinating' A. N. Wilson, Sunday Times

'Enormously good-humoured and entertaining... Hockney asks big questions about the nature of picture-making and the relationship between painters and photography in a way that no other contemporary artists seems to.' Andrew Marr, New Statesman

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

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 Velázquez 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.

By: David Hockney, Martin Gayford
Imprint: Thames & Hudson
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: New Edition
Dimensions: Height: 240mm, Width: 165mm,
Weight: 1.080kg
ISBN: 9780500094235
ISBN 10: 0500094233
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 20 April 2020
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

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.

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

'Crisps up perceptions and help readers to look anew' - The Times 'An eloquent conversational testimony to the vividness of life lived through intelligent looking. You will see Caravaggio and Citizen Kane with fresh eyes' - Daily Telegraph 'Enormously good-humoured and entertaining... Hockney asks big questions about the nature of picture-making and the relationship between painters and photography in a way that no other contemporary artists seems to' - Andrew Marr, New Statesman 'A magic flight of a book ... 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