Anatomy for the Artist [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Anatomy, so far as it is concerned with a knowledge of the bones and muscles of the human body, is an indispensable foundation for any artistic portrayal of human beings. Without such knowledge, it is impossible to observe with understanding the various attitudes, positions and movements of which the human body is capable, up to and including those which reflect emotion. This knowledge not only aids study of the body at rest, but also helps in capturing rapid movements and fleeting changes of expression. Even with the assistance of a trained model one cannot paint these facial and bodily appearances if one lacks any knowledge of anatomy. So far as the artist is concerned, the impact of the human body is exclusively a visual one. His eye studies only the visible details of it. The artist should therefore approach anatomy from an artist's point ofview, not a doctor's. He should make himselfacquainted primarily with the bones and muscles whose forms and actions are visible at or just below the surface. The study of heart, liver and lungs will improve his general knowledge but not his ability to draw. Therefore ANATOMY FOR THE ARTIST does not deal with the internal organs. Some of the blood vessels appear on the surface, but it would be unprofitable to analyse their characteristics at any length. The bones and muscles of the human body compose a very complex three-dimensional system. A very small change of position may ajfect the whole system and change its equilibrium and form. With this in mind, I have endeavoured, while following the inescapable stage-by-stage description, not to neglect the relationships between the parts of the organism. I have used drawings in preference to photographs, since the latter offer only the impersonal viewpoint of a mechanical device and not a selective one which emphasises the essential details, and tones down the unimportant ones. This work deals with the healthy adult human body. Its structure corresponds to that of my lectures at the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts. Wanting to make as much use as possible of historical sources, I found that