David Bertrand

The prehistoric caves of France and northern Spain have always caused wonder, because of the sophisticated, seemingly modern art renderings of animals on their walls. All kinds of theories, ever more complicated, have come and gone without leaving satisfaction. Then in 2013, a graphic artist by the name of Bertrand David hit on a delightfully simple solution that appears to be bombproof. This is his story.

The secret to the drawings is shadow tracing. Using a small model in clay or wood, plus a candle or lamp or torch, artists could trace out animals at will. It explains why the finer details are usually obscured or missing, why there is overlap, why there are multiples. Even why one is upside down. It also explains why the drawings were always in totally dark recesses and never near the entrances. This was hunter-gatherer fun. Graffiti. They drew, and moved on.

David got the idea both because he is an artist and because his young son’s bedside light inspired him to think of children’s tracings. He tried it out in a sealed dirt cellar and lo and behold – cave drawings. He then partnered with Jean-Jacques Lefrere to research prior art, as it were, and attempt to validate the theory. This short book is the result.

I have to say, some 60 years ago, I watched a Disney cartoon of a caveman doing a tracing of his shapely mate on a wall. She got bored standing there and shifted position while he traced, resulting in a fat, slovenly image. Naturally, he got an earful and worse for that artwork. I have never forgotten that cartoon, and so I am surprised anyone is surprised and that this is somehow a brilliant, inspired discovery. But it is. So be it.

David Wineberg… (mehr)

I'm stepping out on a limb here and saying this is that rare thing: a popular book written by a non-specialist that results in a paradigm shift in an academic field. Bertrand David has probably solved a mystery that has alluded experts since cave paintings were first discovered in 1870: how did hunter gatherers 30,000 years ago create the artwork?

Paleolithic cave painting is mysterious because there are so many unanswered questions. They were created during a 20,000+ year period but saw little improvement in form. The oldest ones are as good (if not better) then the newest. A fully formed art tradition appeared from thin air and then lasted unchanged for 20,000 years(!). In recorded history, art traditions rise and fall even over 50 or 100 year periods much less 1 thousand. The cave art is consistent across geographic areas. It has certain unusual characteristics, such as profile views of animals and rarely is the interior body detailed. David gives another dozen or more questions that I won't go into here but they are enough to leave one in despair. Suffice to say, David has hit upon what is almost surely the right answer, one so simple it's astounding no one has thought of it before 2010. The book is a joy to read and very accessible to the average reader, indeed it would make a good young adult book. I think a lot of the literature on cave art has been destroyed by this 150 page essay written so genteelly by an unassuming artist in France. And it will surely open new avenues for exploration and discovery of what cave art has to say.… (mehr)