INTRODUCTION
I
t is a pleasant but far from simple task to pick one hundred \,'Tcat' artist.~ from hundRxls
of others. Everyone h as a range of favouritcs, and a gL"{)gI'aphiGil spread is necessary too.
With the carlysccdcrs, the E uropean an tradition crossed thcAdantic to [be New \Vorld,
and travelled with traders to the Far East. This hook helps to show how that tradition was re-
imerpreted in different locations. inL"Vitahly, my editors and I had to make many reluctant
omissions, and the constraints of copyright affent.:\ the choice of twentieth-century and
conccmpol'JI)' artists. H owever, the sck~[ion that follows is intcndc<i to t ake r eaders on a
"idc-I'Jnging journLj' through the story of wcstern art, with the aid of one hundn..:! examples
of its leading cxponcnt.~. For the most p art, thL]' have trained, inspired or influenced one
another from the thirteenth century to the present d ay. It is a fJscinating, L·ver-dL-vc!oping
part of our lives that we shall never ti re of looking at.
Major exhibitions are a fe ature of g'dlleri es in every principal c ity now3lLiys. CUl'dtors put
years of planning and negotiation into assembling 'hlod:hlL~ter' shows of both old and
modern m asters, whose works are borrowed and tl'dnsportL-d all over the worM. Yet we must
remember that we can go to the S3me g'd!!eries at other times, simply to vicw their standing
exhibitions; and the youngest of gallery visitors are often b>1ven a special welcome. N ational
and provincial g alleries not only house famous works hut also brive us the opportunity to
discover the paintings of less well- known artists. These pcople fr l"tluently \\"Orkl-d alongside
the b'Tcat names, sharing idcas ani\ techniques, sometimes in
the role of teacher o r pupil.
Standing in front of a Renaissance picture hy the likes of
Botticc!!i Of Mantegna, fo r example, it is hard to imab>1ne that
the painters and sculptors we admire were o r ibrinal!r
cl assified as 'mere' Cl'dftsmen. ,\ 'Iost c ame from humble
backgrounds and were accepted into a studio around the age
of nine. At first, they earned their kcep by cleaning and
running e r rands, graduallr working up from apprentice to
journLym'ln and finally m astcr. The fresco painter Qnnini
has !eft this d aunting account of the Renaissance apprentice's
tl'Jining schl-dulc: 'Start fin"!: of all by g rinding colours,t"Ntall from The ,\ Iystic Nat i,;ty (/500) by
Sandro Bom'"Uj