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  Presented by the IHC Idee Levitan Endowed Lecture Series Wednesday, October 23 / 5 P.M. / Free IV Theatre 1 The award-winning documentary film, David Hockney's Secret Knowledge, (72 minutes, 2001) will be screened at 5 P.M. on Wednesday, October 23 in the IV Theatre 1 as part of the UCSB Art Symposium. Directed by Randall Wright and originally aired on the BBC, David Hockney's Secret Knowledge has since been shown at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (2002), Portland International Film Festival (2002), and the Seattle International Film Festival (2002). In this fascinating film, the British painter demonstrates how, four hundred years before the invention of the photograph, artists were using simple cameras to capture realistic images. He reveals startling evidence that camera lenses have been a secret tool for artists since the 15th Century--a discovery that solves centuries-old mysteries surrounding famous paintings and connects with film, television, and computer-produced pictures. Hockney takes us to Florence, Bruges, Ghent, and a stunning, specially designed set in Hollywood, to demonstrates his findings. The film is based on Hockney's critically acclaimed volume, Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters (Thames and Hudson, 2001) which made headlines because of his sensational and controversial theories about how some of Western art's famous masterpieces-paintings by artists such as da Vinci, Caravaggio, Velázquez, and Van Eyck-were actually created. A chance observation of a drawing in London's National Gallery led Hockney to ask, "How was this done?" He became gripped by a desire to find out how the artists of the past had managed to depict the world around them so accurately and vividly. For two years, he sacrificed his own time as an artist to follow this mystery trail, obsessively tracking down the hidden secrets of the Old Masters. Secret Knowledge is the fruit of this labor, an exhaustive treatise in pictures revealing clues that some of the world's most famous painters utilized optics and lenses in creating their masterpieces. Hockney's radical speculations have prompted both astonishment and outrage from prominent art historians and museum directors worldwide. The debate aside, Secret Knowledge offers readers the exhilarating opportunity to see the Old Masters afresh-through the eyes of a living master. This event is cosponsored by the IHC Idee Levitan Endowed Lecture Series, UCSB Art Studio, Art Symposium and Department of the History of Art and Architecture.
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