A comprehensive yet accessible sourcebook for curators and amateurs alike that examines the finer points of 100 well-known works of art

Great paintings cannot be fully understood in a single encounter. Art lovers want to revisit and reconsider the masterpieces again and again throughout their lives, perceiving in greater depth and possibly modifying their value judgments every time they look at a work. Viewing a painting as a whole is a perfectly acceptable method of interacting with art, but a deeper understanding can only be gained by analyzing the painting in detail.

"Art in Detail" spotlights these finer points that even connoisseurs may not pick up on quickly or perhaps at all. It covers all the minutiae that a quick glance will almost certainly fail to reveal. These include subtle internal details, such as hidden symbols and artistic tricks employed by the painter to achieve particular effects. In addition, Susie Hodge writes intelligently and informatively about relevant external influences on the artist―everything from the broad socio-economic context in which he or she flourished, to smaller local difficulties, such as the level of air pollution at the time the painting was created. This book examines 100 paintings from artists such as Pollock, Courbet, Monet, Mondrian, El Greco, van Eyck, and many others.

苏西·霍奇（Susie Hodge, 1960- ）英国人，文学硕士。是一名艺术史学家、作家、艺术家，以及新闻记者，皇家艺术协会会员。她参与编著的书籍超过100本，其中包括《为什么你5岁的孩子做不到》《我的大型艺术展》以及《为什么艺术作品中总是有裸体人物？》等书，均由泰晤士与哈德逊出版社出版。此外，她经常参与播音和电视新闻以及纪录片节目的录制，两次被《独立报》评选为排名第一的艺术作家。