PREFACE u Book you ARE Anour To READ is concerned with the artistie anatomy of human form,not medical anatomy.It proposes to deal with anatomical form and structure for the understanding of the figure in foreshortening and depth of space for corrective discipline in drawing and,perhaps,to add new information to the interrela- tionship of its masses and its movement. Traditionally,the major emphasis of anatomy texts for artists has been to reveal and explain muscular dissection and skeletal structure from the position of the laboratory medical anatomist.A finely integrated and voluminous literature already exists dealing with the myology and osteology of the figure,including.in some examples,the types of joints and their articular surfaces,the deep ligaments and mem branes attaching the bones.and cross-sections through the body at various points describing veins,arteries,nerves,and organs,as well as muscle and bone.These are scholarly and studious projections in the Vesalian tradition,and have served to keep the Renaissance heritage of the figure alive in art.As such,they have informed new art stu- dents of the need to know more than the caprices of fads and styles,and the successful imitation of current mannerisms. Rather than repeat the fine body of work already accomplished. this book will take for granted the existence of skeletal structure and deep mvologi- cal descriptions in other literature,and respectfully advises the reader to consult them for such purposes.Here,we shall attempt to work out solutions to some of the problems that evolve out of anatomical structure,but the stress will be on the rela- ionships of masses in figure movement and how these affect surface form and visual observation in drawing.We shall be seeking insights into the enchantment of the living figure,not the dissected one. There is an interesting corollary to this approach.Historical evidence has it that when Andreas Vesalius began his monumental work on anatomy,De hmni corporis fabrica,some four hundred years ago,he approached the great Venetian master Titian to produce the large number of plates required for the oume.The urivaled artistry of these anatomical descriptions,executed by Titian and some of his students,has never been equaled in similar works.Now an intriguing problem comes up.Vesalius obvi- ously knew a great deal more than Titian about internal medical anatomy.Vesalius,hailed as the Reformer of Anatomy,was in the process of making ne discovers in anatomical struc ture that Titian could not have learned beforehand.How did it happen that Titian,a mas- ter in art.Vesalins the visual description and correct delineation of anatomical human form?Titian was able to master artistic form in spite of his incomplete knowledge of medical structure.Clearly.it would seem a thorough knowledge of internal
DYNAMIC ANATOMY anatomy is no ultimate guarantee of superb artistic performance.Even today,as new medical texts are being prepared,doctors of medicine and laboratory specialists seek out individuals who are artists first,rather than doctors,to develop the artistic descriptions of research. Knowledge of artistic anatomy does not rule out knowledge of med ical anatomy.One enhances and refines the other,as the above evidence shows.They both exist within the same spectrum of ideas,of analysis,and investigation of human form.But their direction and activitiesre differenMedical anatomy dissectsseparates,and divides the human system,region by region,into sections,divisions,segments,units,and frag ments into the finer microscopic details of forms,to the very cell structure itself.Artistic anatomy visualizes,combines,and fuses the whole from the parts.Medical anatomy is the informational background to its activity of blending,correlating.and synthesizing visual experience,objective analysis,and personal expression into an embodied corpuscular whole.It was undoubtedly this understanding that Titian brought to Vesalius'De fabrica The study of the anatomical figure should be pursued in this light. as a learning discipline in art preparation,even in the modern idioms.Condemnation of anatomy has tended to set up a philistinism in certain circles of modernism that uncritically decries history,traditions,and past judgments as academic restriction of free expression
"Free expression,"however,does not necessarily mean balanced judgment or good art. The figure in art has always been the focal center in visual communication from the begin ning of art to the present day.Its forms have been many and varied the world over,but it anatomical form has been the uniquely developed expression of Western civilization Nowhere in the history of cultures has this particular form been so assiduously advanced and persistently studied as it has in the countries where science and discovery of natura process form the basis of the culture.To trace its development from the present into the classical and antique worlds is to reveal concurrently the greatest achievements in the his tory of mankind.Anatomical man.premised first as the artistic form of early prescientific Western thought in Greece,gave rise to the profound medical.physiological,and biologi- cal discoveries in our time.The study of this figure by the art student today is a great, enlightening adventure,and must be seen in the c ntext of new discoveries affecting the life of modern man in the areas of time/space,fission and fusion of matter,microbiology, chemotherapy,psychotherapy,and a host of other lines of investigation. The art process,then,is not simply countless,uncontrolled free expressions,but it is the result of historical understanding and experience formed into a freely expressed,clarified judgment.Behind it is the labor of preparation,of sifting, searching,shaping,and striving through many artistic disciplineson of which is nto my-to reach a stage of maturity.But maturity is not the final stage.Indeed,it is the inau gural stage:it marks the end of the forming stage,and introduces the period of creative growth,the stage of fertility. In today's world,artistic digression from the anatomical figure and its traditional virtues is no discredit to the creative function.The new flights of reason,how- ever,must spring from firm ground in order to express the new complexities.If the new paths of discovery lead from the thoroughfares of the old,who shall deny the indispens ability of both?Who shall deny the link of Vesalius with Galen,of Einstein with Newton. of Salk with Pasteur,of Picasso with Giotto? In art,as in other fields.experimentation is the root of growth But its cultural soil is intelligent preparation.If the soil is barren,the root withers and the future of art is lost. If this book in any way encourages and prepares the student of ar to win his achievements with integrity,if it helps to develop his direction and shape his creative objective,it will have won its validity in the general progress of art. BURNE HOGARTH Neto York.May 1.1958
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A as this volume goes to press that the creation of a book has many labors in it besides the author's.It would be difficult to report on the problems encountered from its first vision to its final revision.To do so would reward the reader with its burdens rather than its pleasures.However.a pecial debt of gratitude must be mentioned here to those persons and organizations who have contributed substantially to its completion. I extend my warmest thanks and sincere appreciation to Miss Elsa Lichtenstein of Barnes&Noble,who first saw its possibilities and proclaimed them fulsomely:to Mr.Norman Kent,editor of American Artist magazine,who cleared the track and green-lighted the way;to Mr.Edward M.Allen,editor of Watson-Guptill Publications. a gentleman of rare charm and patience whose generous understanding encouraged and guided it from beginning to end:to William Gray.Jose Llorente.Diedrich Toborg,and Marvin Hissman for their unstinting assistance in consultation,photography,and produc tion:to Emilio Squeglio of Artist magazine for the major contribution and guidance in design,layout,and typography:to my wife,Constance,who,as her name implies,with enduring forbearance made the typewriter and the manuscript a significant part of her many hous sehold chores. Further.I wish to express sincere appreciation to those museums and organizations that gave generous assistance and permission for the use of artworks from their collections:to the New York Academy of Medicine for the use of the Vesalian prints,which it published in conjunction with the University of Munich in the special edi- tion of 1934,from the original 1543 wood blocks,under the title Ande VsliBr Museum of Modem Art for permission to reproduce from its co lection the works of Boccioni,Braque.Kandinsky.Klee,Leger,Matisse.Picasso,Rodin,and Tchelitchew:to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for permission toreprodce from its col lections the works of antiquity nd the intervening eras,including the examples of Pollock and Pereira;to the American Museum of Natural History for permission to reproduce the examples of Paleolithic and primitive art;and to the Delius Gallery of New York. Finally,I wish to extend sincerest thanks to the School of Visual Arts in New York City,in whose encouraging and experimental atmosphere many of the ideas in this book were explored,and to the school's faculty and students,who asked provocative questions in response to the increasing student demand for an answer to the relevant and proper study of anatomy in the light of past uaditions and art. BURNE HOGARTH 1958
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS FOR THE REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION As Dynamic Drawing nears its fiftieth year in print,we are proud to see the publication of the dynamic drawing series now appears with newly discovered artwork from the Hogarth archives that adds and restores illustrations in their original,breathtaking colors. On behalf of the Hogarth family and Burne Hogarth Dynamic Media Worldwide 11C.we would like to acknowledge several people,without whom this project would not have been possible. First and foremost we would like to thank our friend and legal adviser,David B.Smallman,Esq.His concerted efforts and dedication to the legacy of Burne Hogarth created the opportunity for this book to reach fruition. We thank Todd McFarlane-a brilliant artist in his own right- for his generous and thoughtful foreword to this edition of Dynamic Anatomy.which introduces the book to a new generation of artists. We also express our gratitude to Burne Hogarth's longstanding publisher,Watson-Guptill,for bringing about a new edition of this timeless work.Finally we cach thank family members Stephanie,Pam,Kris,and Brady Todd Hogarth for their love,support,and insights,all of which kept us on track during the past several years. We hope this revised and expanded edition inspire s students and artists around the world.Enjoy! MICHAEL HOGARTH RICHARD HOGARTH ROSS HOGARTH Spring 2003 3