“The story I want to know when I encounter a painting”
From the Renaissance to Pop Art, 23 art classes with a story!
The first book of the Herald Economy's popular column, 'Huam-dong Art Museum'!

"The Lee Kun-hee Collection," "Maurizio Cattelan: WE," "600 Years of Habsburg: Masterpieces of Enchantment"... What do these exhibitions have in common? They were all only accessible through heated "picketing" (a bloody, war-like battle for tickets).
Interest in art, once thought to be fleeting and fleeting, shows no signs of abating.
《Private and Intellectual Art Museum》 is a book for those who want to ride this 'art craze'.
Art movements such as realism, romanticism, expressionism, and surrealism, which are confusing and difficult to understand even after studying, are explained in a storytelling style in an easy and fun way, allowing readers to get closer to the paintings.

This book has accumulated over 7 million views and is the first book in the Herald Economy's most popular column series, 'Huam-dong Art Museum.' Reporter Won-yool Lee has revised and rewritten the 'Theory' section, which opened the series, in response to readers' constant requests to compile the columns into a book.
In the process, the sentences became much richer and the historical facts became clearer after being re-examined.

The author covers a total of 23 movements from the Renaissance to Pop Art, and introduces the works of 23 pioneering artists who can be called the 'fathers' of each movement.
However, it does not stop at a fragmentary interpretation of the artist's representative works, but rather provides a comprehensive view of his life and the characteristics of his movements.
As you read along the table of contents, you will naturally memorize the flow of art styles and no longer be confused about who is your "senior" between Vincent van Gogh and Gustav Klimt.
Of course, you will be able to distinguish between Manet and Monet's paintings.
If you're looking for your first proper art history class, this book is perfect for you.

The goal of this book is to lead every reader to the mania stage.
To this end, we did not stop at fragmentary interpretations of famous paintings or fragmentary introductions to the stories of the popular artists who created them.
An organic interpretation of the most groundbreaking paintings that changed history, a relentless pursuit of the most innovative artists who shook up the times.
Through this, the flow of art history and the beauty of each movement are woven together in an easy-to-understand way.
So that you can look at an era by looking at one work.
For those who are just beginning to study art, I hope this book will serve as a "perfect first art history class," and for those who want to learn more about art beyond a moderate level, I hope this book will serve as a "proper first art history class."

---From "Prologue | 10p."

So what were the themes of medieval art? It's no exaggeration to say that it was almost entirely centered on Christian teachings.
“Atonement.
Fight and resist evil.
Otherwise, the only place you will go is hell, and that hell is a place like this.” The boss must have wanted to teach this with his painting.
Especially at a time when Europeans were dying in droves every day from wars, epidemics, and natural disasters.
Many people believed that the end of the world, which did not come in 1000, would come around 1500.
The boss had to tell them the horrors of hell faster and more effectively.
I had no choice but to use shock therapy.
He must have had a strong desire to resonate deeply with and educate humanity, which is full of original sin.

---「4.
From "Pioneer of Surrealism: Hieronymus Bosch | 80p."

Bateau was the founder of 18th-century Rococo art.
Rococo art is a style characterized by elegance and ornate decoration.
A representative genre is 'Fête Galante', derived from 'Pilgrimage to Cythera'.
The main subjects include elegantly dressed men and women, poses whispering love, a leisurely background resembling a rural landscape, and delicate and luxurious props.
This is still the most common painting style seen in antique shops.
The most intuitive expression of Rococo art is probably the saying, “It never rains in the garden of Bateau.”
That means it was just that bright, light, and playful.

---「6.
From "Rococo Pioneer: Jean-Antoine Watteau | 117p."

Courbet considered the neoclassicism and romanticism that were popular at the time to be hypocritical.
Courbet believed that painters should capture the 'real world' rather than 'their own world'.
Neoclassicism aims to “re-study the classical styles of ancient Greek and Roman culture!”
Romanticism aimed for “more dreamy, more dramatic!”
They may look quite different, but they have something in common.
It's like catching a cloud in the sky.
Painters who believed that the two styles were the answer also brought back mythological and historical paintings from the Renaissance of the 14th to 16th centuries.
They compete to see who can draw more tragically.
The painting was repeated to become holy again.

---「9.
From "Pioneer of Realism: Gustave Courbet | 179p."

He is a painter who opened the door to neo-impressionism with his unique pointillist technique.
Pointillism is a technique of painting by applying countless dots of pure color paint.
It's not about 'painting' with a brush, it's about 'stamping'.
This is a method that emerged after much thought to overcome the limitations of impressionism.
At that time, impressionist painters tried to sensually capture the impression of a moment that changed from moment to moment depending on the light.
The key was to capture that light, that moment, that scene.
For example, when drawing an apple, I didn't paint it in the usual red color.
I tried to paint the apple with colors that would look different depending on the brightness and angle of the light shining on it.
Apples could be orange, blue, or black.
But they soon hit a wall.
The more light is mixed, the brighter it becomes.
Painters mix various paints to follow the light, but the problem is that light and paint have different properties.
Unlike light, paints become cloudy as they are mixed.
It's become so dull that I don't want to look at it.
“How can we express all the light in the world as it is with paint?” was a major topic of discussion among the Impressionist painters.

---「13.
From "Pioneer of Neo-Impressionism: Georges Seurat | 253p."

Cézanne is not satisfied with the liberation of color.
In his view, Impressionism was a movement that had stopped midway on its path.
Cézanne thought that the Impressionists were obsessed with the colors of objects and neglected their forms.
For Cezanne, the forms of objects were as varied as their colors.
If light changed the color of an object, the direction and angle of view changed the shape of the object.
For example, apples do not always appear round.
Depending on how you look at it, the apple can appear flat or wide.

---「15.
From "Pioneer of Modern Painting: Paul Cézanne | 296p."

It is said that Rousseau, who was at the height of his artistic career, was once involved in a fraud case and was put on trial.
The conversation Rousseau had with the judge at that time is interesting.
"Your Honor! If I'm found guilty, it's not me who's going to suffer the most." "What do you mean? Then who's going to suffer the most?" "Art.
“Art itself will suffer!” It is also interesting that his words later turned out to be somewhat true.
Rousseau contributed to expanding the stage of painting from reality to fantasy, and further from a scene in the past or present to another dimension or a point in the future.
Moreover, the geometric compositions seen in Rousseau's surrealist paintings influenced Cubism and abstract painting, and the simplified forms even influenced pop art.

---「18.
From "Pioneer of Modern Surrealism: Henri Rousseau | 374p."

Pop Art is an abbreviation for popular art.
Hamilton gave rise to the term pop art.
Do you see the lollipop being held by the muscular man in Hamilton's work? The word "POP" is clearly written on it.
Art critic Lawrence Alloway saw this and called the work pop art.
The core of pop art is 'popularity', and its materials are popular culture such as advertisements, press photos, movies, and comics.
The agony of creation is also less.
If it looks good, just cut it out with scissors and use it.
You can get the same material in bulk.
Advertisements, posters, etc. will continue to appear as soon as they are printed.
If you put your mind to it, you can print infinitely.
It was a groundbreaking attempt for that time.
It showed me that art can be just fun, and that creative work doesn't have to be spent locked up in a room and hanging on for years.
It also proves that art can easily blossom from everyday materials that are both wonderful and vulgar, sometimes even seeming vulgar.
In this regard, Hamilton also claims that “there is no hierarchy between Elvis Presley and Picasso.”
In the first place, in the realm of art, it means that there is no distinction between who is good and who is bad.

---「23.
From "Pop Art Pioneer: Richard Hamilton | 458p."