Martin Gayford

Doors of perception

Shape Shifters at the Hayward Gallery is intriguing, elusive, contains at least one masterpiece and is full of menace

issue 29 September 2018

A reflection on still water was perhaps the first picture that Homo sapiens ever encountered. The importance of mirrors in the history of art has been underestimated. Alberti, Vasari and Leonardo recommended them as a tool for painters. Van Eyck delighted in them. Caravaggio had one in his studio. And they haven’t stopped fascinating artists.

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