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Hockney–Falco thesis
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<p>The Hockney–Falco thesis is a controversial theory of <a href="/facts/Art_history/tN0hw56I">art history</a>, proposed by artist <a href="/facts/David_Hockney/6xbx78uP">David Hockney</a> in 1999 and further advanced with physicist <a href="/facts/Charles_M._Falco/9VGuD6sb">Charles M. Falco</a> since 2000 (together as well as individually). They argued that advances in <a href="/facts/Realism_(visual_arts)/qn1xtzkf">naturalism</a> and accuracy in the history of Western art since the early <a href="/facts/Renaissance/4D9Bc6KU">Renaissance</a> (circa 1420/1430) were primarily the result of <a href="/facts/Optical_instrument/jB29DQNk">optical aids</a> such as the <a href="/facts/Camera_obscura/0xEbeJKd">camera obscura</a>, <a href="/facts/Camera_lucida/zMYp77om">camera lucida</a>, and <a href="/facts/Curved_mirror/X1c0aVmK">curved mirrors</a>, rather than solely due to the development of <a href="/facts/Artist/7kfrXB5P">artistic</a> technique and skill. </p><p>In his 2001 book, <i>Secret Knowledge: Rediscovering the Lost Techniques of the Old Masters</i>, Hockney more extensively analyzed the work of the <a href="/facts/Old_Masters/PsW7vcf3">Old Masters</a> and argued that the level of accuracy represented in their work is impossible to create by "eyeballing it". It formed the basis for the 2002 <a href="/facts/BBC/qFateIz8">BBC</a> documentary <i>David Hockney: Secret Knowledge</i>, with some new ideas and experiments that in turn inspired additions to the second edition of the book (2006). </p><p>Nineteenth-century artists' use of photography had been well documented, and many art historians had already suggested that certain artists had used the <a href="/facts/Camera_obscura/0xEbeJKd">camera obscura</a> for their work (most notably 18th century painter <a href="/facts/Canaletto/u7vzufXq">Canaletto</a> and 17th century painter <a href="/facts/Johannes_Vermeer/HwMnv5NB">Johannes Vermeer</a>), but Hockney believed that nobody had previously suggested that optics had been used as early and widely as he suggested. Many art historians contested the hypothesis, while others found the debate "hyped" and pointed towards earlier studies and writings. </p>