Artists & Illustrators — June 2017

42 Artists & Illustrators

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or many, the word ‘art’ evokes images of artists

starving in garrets and dying for their work, leaving

behind a legacy of great masterpieces no-one had

recognised. The truth, of course, is rarely like that.

Art is full of industrious people who are affected and

influenced by their times, surroundings and personal

experiences, as well as the materials available to them and

the art required at the time. Since ancient times, artists

have produced two- and three-dimensional art in paint,

plaster, bronze, marble, mosaic and more, and as they try

new things, they affect and influence the art that follows.

Sometimes art changes as a positive response, and

sometimes it reacts against art that has gone before.

When I began writing my book, The Short Story of Art, I

wanted to create an introduction to Western art that would

be unique and accessible. Often, people are interested in

art, yet feel uncomfortable because they don’t know (or

think don’t they know) enough. The easiest way to

approach the vast subject is to encounter it in bite-size

pieces, and then learn how these connect. I have chosen

four snapshots, not because they were the most

ground-breaking art of all time, but because each initiated

developments in the story of art. The 13th-century mosaic

Christ Pantokrator included some tonal contrast, which

harked back to ancient Roman mosaics, suggesting it

wasn’t simply a flat image on a wall. Giotto went even

further, trying to portray depth, distance and emotion. Mary

Cassatt used the inventions of portable paint tubes and

photography, and the newer influence of Japanese prints to

capture a boating scene from an unusual viewpoint, while

Degas outrageously added clothing and hair to his statue.

Interestingly, however, one of the earliest works in the

book is bulls painted on a cave wall thousands of years

ago, while one of the most recent is a shark preserved in

formaldehyde: large images of animals about 20,000 years

apart. It makes you wonder, has art changed much at all?

The Short Story of Art by Susie Hodge is out now, published by

Laurence King, £12.99. http://www.laurenceking.com

ART HISTORIAN SUSIE HODGE EXPLORES FOUR

WORKS THAT REWROTE THE TECHNIQUES RULEBOOK

ABOVE Mary

Cassatt, Boating

Party, 1893-94,

oil on canvas,

90x117.3cm

RIGHT Christ

Pantokrator,

c.1261, mosaic,

Hagia Sophia,

Istanbul, Turkey

1

Christ Pantokrator, c.1261, mosaic,

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey

In the Hagia Sophia, the greatest church in

Constantinople (now Istanbul) – the capital of the

Byzantine Empire – Christ Pantokrator faces forwards,

holding the Gospels in his left hand, while his right is

raised in blessing. The Greek word ‘Pantokrator’

means ‘almighty’ or ‘ruler of all’. While not lifelike in

contemporary terms, recognisable features have

been portrayed to convey love and compassion.

Christ’s long, sensitive fingers and clothing are

depicted with attention to detail and a developing

sense of three-dimensions. In most Byzantine art,

these elements had become formulaic, but this work

shows more individuality.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON, D.C. CHESTER DALE COLLECTION 1963.10.94

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