Interesting Backgrounds: Neglected aspects of famous paintings

by Mr Denis McErlane

A collection of fascinating background details from famous paintings, with brief notes about each painting, and hand-drawn illustrations by the author of the original selected images. When we look at a famous painting, we inevitably concentrate on the central figure, event or theme of the picture. But in traditional realist painting, the subject is presented in a specific context - which may vary from a simple coloured surface or shadow to an involved and detailed space. Of course, this space has been chosen to support and explain further the meaning of the picture. So at the end of the day, a background is just that - a background. Yet in many great paintings, that background, when isolated and looked at as an image in itself, can often reveal a further level of thinking on the part of the artist that might easily be overlooked in a casual or too literal reading of the image.

65 pages, Paperback

Published May 16, 2019