Art in detail - Susie Hodge

Great paintings cannot be fully understood in a single encounter; there is always
more to be derived from them. Art lovers may revisit and reconsider the masterpieces
throughout their lives, but a deeper understanding can only be gained by analysing
the painting in detail, be it the placement of the subject, the lighting, the style of
brushstrokes or the themes.
Art in Detail
examines 100 iconic paintings from the Western canon and spotlights
the finer points a quick glance will almost certainly fail to reveal. These include subtle
internal details, such as hidden symbols and artistic tricks employed by the painter to
achieve particular effects. In addition, Susie Hodge writes intelligently about external
influences on the artist - everything from the socioeconomic context in which he
or she flourished, to smaller local difficulties, such as the level of air pollution at the
time the painting was created. And she treats each of her subjects not only, to quote
Matthew Arnold, 'as in itself it really is', but also as part of a tradition that links the
oldest painting to the most recent, as artists pass a metaphorical baton down through
the ages.