Contents

Contents : Action (the horse - from cave art to the 1900s); the art of illumination (painted pages); the human body (studying and painting the nude); the ideal landscape (exploring the world outdoors); light and shade (how painters use lighting effects); still life (flowers, fruit and hidden messages); playing games (visual tricks); portraits (how artists see people); high society (leisurely pursuits in the 1700s); a hard day’s work (peasants and artists in the 1800s); for the record (painters as witnesses to history); all at sea (boats and waves); a new way of seeing (the Cubist revolution); abstract art (paintings without subjects); finding out more (art movements and styles; famous painters; useful words); index; timeline;