David Hockney: Secret Knowledge (2001)
Artist David Hockney discusses his theory that artists were secretly using optical devices such as mirrors and lenses in creating their work as early as the 15th century.
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Wow, this is a REALLY bad movie!
Very disappointing...
Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
Hockney's thesis is that from the Renaissance to the 1850's the dominant styles in painting depended on secret use of lenses to project images from three dimensional scenes onto flat surfaces such as walls. The artist would then trace the two-dimensional projection and fill it in later with paint. He points to areas in paintings that are blurry, in just the places where painters would have had to change the focus to get details from closer objects.In other words, they used simple cameras. Hockney's style is engaging and persuasive. He also wrote a book with the same title which is more accessible. The video is not readily available, except in a few university libraries. It costs $150 to purchase from BBC films! The main reason to see the video, rather than read the book, is that the moving video camera yields a three dimensional effect much easier to take in than in the book.
David Hockney demonstrates how the painting masters of the past, secretly started using devices and instruments to enhance the aesthetics of their paintings. Hockney not only discovers this concept, he also demonstrates it, which allows us to grasp the technical side.Being a Photography student i found this documentary to be excellent.Using famous and not so famous paintings from different periods in art history, you get an informative crash course while also learning about Hockney's discovery.I am not a big fan of Hockney's work, but that doesn't matter because this film has nothing to do with it. It only directs it's attention to the masters of the past. Hockney simply does some quick sketches to demonstrate his theory. A well researched and educational film, 9 out of 10.