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Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters

David Hockney

4.14 · Rating details · 2,066 ratings · 84 reviews

Join one of the most influential artists of our time as he investigates the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Hockney’s extensive research led him to conclude that artists such as Caravaggio, Velázquez, da Vinci, and other hyperrealists actually used optics and lenses to create their masterpieces.In this passionate yet pithy book, Hockney takes readers on a journey ...more

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Paperback, New & Expanded Edition, 336 pages

Published October 5th 2006 by Avery (first published 2001)

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Oct 17, 2014 Lois Bujold rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: anyone interested in art, optics, or how the world is seen

Recommended to Lois by: mentioned in documentary film

I came to this via the film Tim's Vermeer and the excellence of my county library.

Well, this is certainly not a book one could read on a Kindle. Hockney works a compelling example of "show, don't tell", though to be fair he does both. The book opens with a long section of large-format and well-reproduced pictures of paintings, essential to and the foundation of his arguments, goes on to a section of select quotes from historical documents about the uses of mirrors and lenses from Roman times
I came to this via the film Tim's Vermeer and the excellence of my county library.

Well, this is certainly not a book one could read on a Kindle. Hockney works a compelling example of "show, don't tell", though to be fair he does both. The book opens with a long section of large-format and well-reproduced pictures of paintings, essential to and the foundation of his arguments, goes on to a section of select quotes from historical documents about the uses of mirrors and lenses from Roman times onward (the quote from Seneca had me giggling, in this age of internet porn -- indeed, there is no new thing under the sun), and concludes with Hockney's correspondence with various colleagues that tracks the development of his theses and this very book, recursively.

This last, again, allows the reader to see the ideas taking shape. As a kind of early e-mail, Hockney and friends evidently conducted a lot of their exchanges via faxed letter, speaking of the effect of technology on, well, everything. It is not only due to the fact that most of the participants were trained older academics that the letters are so polished and coherent and camera-ready. If the same correspondence were conducted after e-mail, the exchanges might well have been more colloquial, cut-up, and fluid. I am put in mind of the shift between mail and e-mail with one of my own overseas correspondents. Our paper letters went easily into a later article; I don't think one could do that with our later e-mails, or at least, they'd take a hellalot more editing. I also saw my own experience of kicking half-formed ideas around with friends paving their way for later, more public utterances, all part of the process. Hockney lets you see the sausages being made. (It also sped up the production of the book, I expect, for a busy artist who likely wanted to get back to painting by then.)

The news to Hockney, passed on by his tame optical physicist, that concave mirrors could produce projections seemed as much news to me as to him, until I reflected on telescopes, and all those articles I'd read, for example, about the 200-inch Palomar mirror being ground. But I never made the last connections either. Made me feel quite Ivanish.

In my prior exposures to art history, the material mostly rolled off me; this, I think, will stick.

Ta, L.

...more

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Apr 22, 2014 Beverly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, british, art

Remarkable! Hockney convincingly demonstrates that, starting around 1430, artists used optical devices to capture figures and landscapes realistically. This accounts for distortions in perspective and Caravagio-like shadows because of the strong light needed to use lenses.
Impressionists and post-impressionists wanted to do something new and so became post-lens artists. This is a subject that has profound implications for the translation of three dimensional reality into two dimensions as is done ...more

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Jun 29, 2011 Al Bità rated it really liked it

This handsome publication sets down for the record David Hockney's long and detailed exploration of the techniques and technologies that may have been used by the great masters of European painting. He concentrates on the 500 year period from the beginning of the fifteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century. In the process one is led to a complete re-evaluation and re-appreciation of their work.

The journey was not simple or straightforward. It began with a close examination of Ingres, This handsome publication sets down for the record David Hockney's long and detailed exploration of the techniques and technologies that may have been used by the great masters of European painting. He concentrates on the 500 year period from the beginning of the fifteenth century to the end of the nineteenth century. In the process one is led to a complete re-evaluation and re-appreciation of their work.

The journey was not simple or straightforward. It began with a close examination of Ingres, and a questioning of the techniques used for certain qualities found in his work. Hockney suspected that certain optical devices were necessary for the artist to achieve some of the effects produced. By examining the changing styles of the the great masters during this 500 year period, Hockney came to the conclusion that the techniques used were kept secret, for good reasons — economic ones for starters, but also social ones, and the strong presence of mediaeval beliefs that preferred to believe in satanic influence rather than a purely mechanical device dealing with optics meant that being too open about the 'magical' qualities achievable by various types of mirrors and eventually lenses could have dangerous and deadly consequences. Roger Bacon, for one, suffered by being accused of a non-salutary reliance on 'diabolic' contraptions capable of creating 'magic'. Hockney began collecting earlier (12th and 13th century) texts which, from today's perspective, are highly suggestive that special optical devices were familiar to those 'in the know'.

A result of all these mindsets was that artists effectively remained protective and secretive about the devices and techniques they might have use for their works. This further resulted in later admirers of their works developing the Romantic concept that these artists were solitary geniuses who had the gift and talent to achieve astonishing effects simply through the acuity and accuracy of their visual and manual techniques. It is perhaps this latter view that proved most difficult for Hockney to counter. People even today feel that using optical devices for effects somehow implies 'cheating' on the part of the artists. Hockney takes pains to point out that that this is simply a misunderstanding: it still requires wonderful skill and expertise to produce masterpieces — the use of optical devices does not make this less of an achievement.

The book is presented in three parts. The first part consists essentially of exquisitely reproduced paintings and drawings and their details — all a joy in themselves. The second part is a collection of historical documentation which suggest that special techniques were known to certain people and that they could and were used to great effect. The third part of the book presents notes, correspondence, faxes, etc. between Hockney and various experts in the fields of art, art historians and experts in the field of optics. It reads much like a detective story. The discovery in particular that a 6 cm concave mirror acts precisely like a lens (it projects pictures in the right light conditions) was a break-through moment.

Hockney has presented his arguments in this format to show that in his opinion not only did the artists of the day use whatever deceive they could lay their hand on to help them inter endeavours, but also that it is 'obvious' when one realises this fact. He also opines that Photography (late 19th century) and nowadays digital imaging (late 20th century) will also provide a new lease of life for painting in ways yet to be imagined.

This book makes you look again with renewed insight and excitement into the world of the great European artists — one will never again be able to view their works in quite the same way again — but this is not to be taken in a negative way: far from it — we see these wonderful works in anew light that is both revelatory and stimulating.
...more

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Jan 10, 2009 Sheona rated it it was amazing

Shelves: art

Great book.

I love controversy especially when it targets the art world, when it stirs up the way we perceive and look at great masterful works of art; when it throws a whole new massive spanner into the works.

Optics or eyeballed?

That is the question.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, I savoured it because of the artwork and the new light shining on them. (I still find myself today picking it up to satisfy a looming question, checking out uncertainties.)

The author has written a good book ...more

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Aug 04, 2018 Alex Egg rated it really liked it

Interesting study into some of the techniques of the old masters. It turns most of them were probably more entrepreneurial than artistic. In the early 1400s there is a sudden rise of photo-realism in Flemish painting -- Hockney posits that this is b/c of the use of lenses and mirrors. He goes on to explain how medieval artisans essentially embraced automation by obviating the need of sketching the subject they were going to paint. In the past, this was a painstaking task of eyeballing where the ...more

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Aug 21, 2018 Craig Smillie rated it it was amazing

If you are at all interested in looking at paintings, this book is THE MUST. It will totally change your outlook. The crucial book on painting.

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Feb 25, 2013 Bart rated it it was amazing

This is one of the most remarkable books I can recall ever reading about any subject. It is so iconoclastic and written with such authority by a person so accomplished as a practitioner in the field he examines that the experience it provides is unique and the euphoria it induces is real.

Beginning with Van Eyck and heading forward through most every painter of note - Caravaggio, Velazquez and Vermeer most of all - they all used optics, lenses specifically, to accomplish the miracles they ...more

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Jun 07, 2011 Wayne rated it it was amazing

One of the best books about art, because there is a specific theory directly tied to how artwork is created and then many illustrations are deployed to prove the theory. Topics like biography, motivation, symbolism, etc are put to the side to focus on how artists see. The discussion on drawing with camera lucida is interesting, as Hockney brings up the concept that certain lines look more confident, but also he can see duration of time in lines (which lines were drawn at certain speeds). Hockney ...more

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Sep 05, 2010 Ryan rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2010

Researched and written by British artist David Hockney, this is a compelling book which explores the "how" of painting historically. Hockney's thesis is that artists — particularly those working in the Dutch and Flemish heyday like Van Eyck or Rembrandt — were aided by lenses, optics, and mirrors to help them craft realistic artworks.

In this visual essay, Hockney proposes that these high-tech methods date back hundreds of years further back than the common conception among art historians. The ...more

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Jan 08, 2008 Jonathan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: art

Pointed out some necessary things for a painter to realize. I sort of understood in general terms that old masters used particular techniques to produce some of the most realistic looking paintings ever made, but this told of those on the specific level when and why they used them and most importantly how. Optics played an important role in the development of old masters techniques and how those really shaped the reasoning and purpose of painting from the 17th century of painting to now. Hockney ...more

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Mar 06, 2015 James rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, art

An interesting read, bad photoshop art has a long history.

The controversy is fun reading, see Wikipedia for details. On that note many of the paintings in the book are located near where I live and having inspected them after reading this book I can see optical distortion caused by the use of simple lenses, based on my image processing and optical design experience. Critics of the theory will have to explain how a 15th century artist "faked" that look. Unless of course the actual paintings ...more

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Sep 16, 2013 John Lambert rated it really liked it

This was a very interesting book. Hockney's evidence that painters used optical devices to create almost photographic images on canvas is compelling. At the same time, there are artists that can do this by "eyeballing." Some of their work is in Aaron Brothers in the " How to Draw _______" section. I have no doubt that Hockney is correct. This is the most interesting art history book I have read. I enjoyed reading the way Hockney meticulously described and duplicated the processes used by master ...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Alison added it

I return to this book a lot. I keep it next to my bed. AMazing!

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Jun 05, 2018 John rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Before you go to another art gallery with European painting from between 1400 to the impressionists, read "Secret Knowledge". This book will literally give you an entirely new lens for seeing and appreciating what is happening. This book mounts a compelling argument that lenses and particularly mirrors were used to aide artists in composition from near the dawn of perspective drawing.

As a result of reading this book, you will understand the improvements in renderings of the facial proportion, Before you go to another art gallery with European painting from between 1400 to the impressionists, read "Secret Knowledge". This book will literally give you an entirely new lens for seeing and appreciating what is happening. This book mounts a compelling argument that lenses and particularly mirrors were used to aide artists in composition from near the dawn of perspective drawing.

As a result of reading this book, you will understand the improvements in renderings of the facial proportion, fabrics and armors, still-life, and other items. It clearly explains strange optical artifacts in paintings, such as changes in vanishing points, losses of focus, and shifts in viewpoint caused by rendering different aspects of a scene each head-on instead of from a point. It explains stylistic choices, such as deep shadows and the use of shelf-like structures such as being seated behind tables, as artifacts of projecting images into a darkened area. Finally, as photography is supplanting the commercial aspects of realistic rendering, you will see how artists came to react to the view produced from these techniques, particularly how Cezanne used a non-lens perspective to achieve new results in the perception of space.

The narrative of the book is clear and well-developed, and a limited knowledge of art history will not get in the way of enjoying the book. The book is composed into three sections:

1. one on visual evidence which shows the development of these techniques, all that I describe above.

2. one on textual evidence for these hypotheses, including a greater explanation of the optical technology, historical texts alluding to optical tools, and general descriptions of practices of secrecy in the arts and guild institutions in general.

3. the correspondence through which Hockney and others developed these ideas.

I would say 2 and 3 are really for completionists and historians, and the part on visual evidence is sufficient.

This is also a great book for those interested in Hockney's work. The "Secret Knowledge" period comes after the photo-collages which start to break with the lens-like perspective of the earlier California pools and portraits, but prior to the Bridlington-area landscapes including the multi-perspective video collages and "Bigger Trees Near Warter", which used Hockney's own "secret knowledge" to generate a cohesive outdoor painting of massive size. Here, you'll see how concerns about perspective reform into one of the artist's most exciting periods.

Overall, this book will give you a new way to look, which has always been one of art's best goals.
...more

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Mar 29, 2019 Jeffrey rated it it was amazing

Read this years ago at McGill. Recently found a copy of my own. Thinking of adapting it to teach students about the relationship between tools, insights, and art. Fascinating.

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Oct 06, 2019 Boweavil rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Fascinating for anyone who is an artist, an historian, a scientist, or someone interested in the development of human knowledge as well as its loss.

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Nov 06, 2018 Lara rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Fascinating. I wish this had been required reading in art school.

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May 06, 2018 Stephanie Kesler rated it really liked it

Really terrific and interesting. One will never look at the artwork of the masters in the same way again.

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Sep 13, 2010 Alex rated it it was amazing

A really interesting argument about the use of optics in European artwork from the 14th century onward, beautifully made over the course of the lavish illustrations and clever text. Do I buy it? I don't know. The influence of optics in some cases seems very strong, but as the book goes on, I got the feeling that Hockney had "optics on the brain" and was seeing them everywhere, even places that didn't (to me) look very compelling. I completely buy that Caravaggio probably used optics, for ...more

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Feb 14, 2017 Michael Meusch rated it liked it

His ideas on the Camera Obscura are fascinating but I'm doubtful that all of them use that technique. Hockney should realize, Art which in Ancient Greek means skill of hand. One can also read the works on Leonardo da Vinci and come to the conclusion that most masters had mastered the seeing process and were utilizing a plethora of techniques to invoke the seeing process and depending less on the camera Obscura.

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May 20, 2016 Becky rated it it was amazing

I am late to the party, having discovered this book at my local library. I flat-out loved it and felt like I was having a conversation with David Hockney about that age old question...How DID they DO that? I am and have been for quite some time a fan of David Hockney's in regards to drawing and design skills, his use of pattern and color, his early adoption of iPads for painting, and his willingness to share information...he has some great educational content for young kids. I think of him as ...more

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Oct 25, 2010 Jaclyn rated it it was amazing

What a fascinating book. There are some grumpy reviews about it around the web, but I think a little controversy just adds to the mystery. The author demonstrates with many fascinating examples how artists may have used lenses to project images to aid in their painting. I've never thought so much about HOW art is created, and I've also never really thought about this potential bridge between photography and film and painting and drawing. I've never really been a huge art museum person, much as I ...more

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Jun 02, 2007 shawn rated it liked it

Recommends it for: all artists

the controversial theory Hockney puts forth about Renaissance painters in this book is actually beyond the controversy. historians and theorists have been fighting about this and tearing him (and each other) apart since this book came out, but it doesn't have anything to do with them. as a painter, this book speaks to me as exactly what he purports it to be: secret knowledge that has been lost to modernity. theorists might have to deny it in order to maintain the legitimacy of the old masters; ...more

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Sep 06, 2014 Andrea rated it it was amazing

I waited forever for this book. It was unavailable at the library and even Amazon had only a few copies. It was worth the wait.
I remember the New Yorker article detailing Hockney's "discovery" in 2000. Yes, lenses, mirrors and art history can be memorable for 15 years!
Hockney's passion is so compelling and contagious and the best part is, this is not an academic book. He's not condescending even when he brings in the experts. We see what he sees-- the whole first half of the book are painting ...more

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May 01, 2012 ANIOTUS Marcus Longmuir rated it it was amazing

Shelves: got-at-library

An amazingly fast or incredibly detailed read, depending on your mood. Either way it is engaging and makes a strong case for the use of optical enhancements being used by artists considerably more than perhaps anticipated. The idea that was more remarkable for me was to learn the mechanics of building the physical space that is required to make the optics work and the close examination of subtle perspective and depth of field difference to show how sectioned paintings using these techniques ...more

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Oct 29, 2016 Justyna rated it really liked it

This is a very beautifully published book with stunning photos and very strong thesis. Although I don't agree with all of Hockney's ideas (some of his examples and comparisons are biased. It's true that the whole range of optical instruments will help you to make more precise drawings but they won't apply the paint for you. None of the instruments mentioned by Hockney would help in actual painting) I can fully appreciate all the work he put into it and reccomend this book to everyone as a very ...more

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Sep 25, 2011 Robert rated it it was amazing

If you can draw, this book will make you feel more talented and proud to have not used aides. It stands to reason that artists who are in the business of making art use what they can to improve the process and speed it along. But, today, if you have a job that doesn't require you to make art to pay the bills, you are free to explore techniques and technologies as you please with creativity as your primary concern. I find that liberating.

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Feb 01, 2014 Cauchy09 rated it liked it

Shelves: art-and-stuff

A nice approach to intuitive analysis of the technology at play in paintings over time. Of course, it is very well illustrated and it is interesting to read a painter/photographer as he attempts to "prove" a theory about the use of camera lucida and obscura. However, the proof is merely observational in almost all cases. This doesn't mean it's unbelievable; it's just lacking a little oomph.

This book is very worthwhile, despite my 3-star review.

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Feb 15, 2011 Grace rated it it was amazing

I learned so much about painting today. The book is full of brilliant insights such as this quote.

"All drawn lines have a speed that can usually be deduced: they have a beginning and an end, and therefore represent time, as well as space. Even a tracing of a photograph contains more 'time' then the original photograph (which represents just a fraction of a second), because the hand takes time to do it."

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Jan 24, 2010 Sarah rated it it was amazing

This was one of those great books that will permanently affect how I see art. Hockney's argument is that optical devices such as lenses and projecting mirrors were used since the early renaissance (and even before?) to create an early form of photorealism. The important idea is that art using these devices is very realistic but also fairly flat.

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About David Hockney

David Hockney

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David Hockney was born in Bradford, England, on July 9, 1937. He loved books and was interested in art from an early age, admiring Picasso, Matisse and Fragonard. His parents encouraged their son’s artistic exploration, and gave him the freedom to doodle and daydream.

Hockney attended the Bradford College of Art from 1953 to 1957. Then, because he was a conscientious objector to military service, David Hockney was born in Bradford, England, on July 9, 1937. He loved books and was interested in art from an early age, admiring Picasso, Matisse and Fragonard. His parents encouraged their son’s artistic exploration, and gave him the freedom to doodle and daydream.

Hockney attended the Bradford College of Art from 1953 to 1957. Then, because he was a conscientious objector to military service, he spent two years working in hospitals to fulfill his national service requirement. In 1959, he entered graduate school at the Royal College of Art in London alongside other young artists such as Peter Blake and Allen Jones, and he experimented with different forms, including abstract expressionism. He did well as a student, and his paintings won prizes and were purchased for private collections.

Hockney’s early paintings incorporated his literary leanings, and he used fragments of poems and quotations from Walt Whitman in his work. This practice, and paintings such as We Two Boys Clinging Together, which he created in 1961, were the first nods to his homosexuality in his art.

Because he frequently went to the movies with his father as a child, Hockney once quipped that he was raised in both Bradford and Hollywood. He was drawn to the light and the heat of California, and first visited Los Angeles in 1963. He officially moved there in 1966. The swimming pools of L.A. were one of his favorite subjects, and he became known for large, iconic works such as A Bigger Splash. His expressionistic style evolved, and by the 1970s, he was considered more of a realist.

In addition to pools, Hockney painted the interiors and exteriors of California homes. In 1970, this led to the creation of his first “joiner,” an assemblage of Polaroid photos laid out in a grid. Although this medium would become one his claims to fame, he stumbled upon it by accident. While working on a painting of a Los Angeles living room, he took a series of photos for his own reference, and fixed them together so he could paint from the image. When he finished, however, he recognized the collage as an art form unto itself, and began to create more.

Hockney was an adept photographer, and he began working with photography more extensively. By the mid 1970s, he had all but abandoned painting in favor of projects involving photography, lithographs, and set and costume design for the ballet, opera and theater.

In the late 1980s, Hockney returned to painting, primarily painting seascapes, flowers and portraits of loved ones. He also began incorporating technology in his art, creating his first homemade prints on a photocopier in 1986. The marriage of art and technology became an ongoing fascination—he used laser fax machines and laser printers in 1990, and in 2009 he started using the Brushes app on iPhones and iPads to create paintings. A 2011 exhibit at the Royal Museum of Ontario showcased 100 of these 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 paint and exhibit, and advocates for funding for the arts.

source: http://www.biography.com/people/david... ...more