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curl -X POST \
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  -H 'Content-Type: text/plain' \
  -H 'X-ClickHouse-Database: crawler3' \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YXBpOg==' \
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Response:

{"found_url":"https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/paper-trails-2","crawl_time":1775531639,"first_indexed_time":1727869910,"http_code":200,"src_unparsed":"uk,co,literaryreview!\/paper-trails-2 s443","src_root_hash":"11401759864489900376","history_drop_reason":null,"meta_title":"The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History of Art by Susan Owens - review by Daisy Dunn","meta_descriptions":["Daisy Dunn: Paper Trails - The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History of Art by Susan Owens"],"attrs_boilerpipe_text":"Jacques-Louis David, the leading artist of the French Revolution, sketched\nMarie Antoinette as few had seen her before. Perched on the edge of her seat on the way to her execution, arms bound, lank hair poking free of a decidedly unglamorous cap, David’s queen looks resigned, drawn and peculiarly ordinary. Yet there is a discernible defiance in the way she holds herself and purses her lips. Was this a message to the artist who voted to send her to the guillotine?\nDavid’s drawing, done in pen and brown ink, is arresting because it is so unexpected. A good proportion of the hundred drawings reproduced in the art historian and former V&A curator Susan Owens’s new book have a similarly esoteric flavour. Instead of preparatory drawings for Paolo Uccello’s famous\nThe Hunt in the Forest\n(c 1470), for example, we have his magnificent study of a chalice in three dimensions. The vessel looks like it was devised on an architect’s computer. From ancient Egypt, we are presented not with tomb graffiti but with a portrait inscribed on a palette belonging to a scribe of Ramesses II and a frivolous but fantastic sketch of a cat waiting on a mouse, which would not look out of place in the pages of\nPrivate Eye\n.\n \nOwens’s selection of artworks is superb. Each provides a plot point in her history of drawing from roughly 11,000 BC to the present day. Its scope is enormous, but the book feels suitably intimate. As Owens notes, drawings traditionally represent the private side of art, revealing artists as they","attrs_markdown":"![](https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/tr?id=358987538053315&ev=PageView%0A%09%09&noscript=1)\n\nFor People Who Devour Books\n\n- [Subscribe Today\\!](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/subscribe%20)\n- [Sign In](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/wp-login.php?itsec-hb-token=sign-in)\n- [Register](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/wp-login.php?action=register&itsec-hb-token=wp-register-php)\n- [Help](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/subscribe#help)\n\n# [Literary Review]()\nTuesday 7th April, 2026\n\n- [Home](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/)\n- [Archive](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/back-issue)\n- [Bad Sex](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/bad-sex-in-fiction-award)\n- [Search](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/search)\n- [Subscribe](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/subscribe)\n- [About](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/about)\n- [Shop](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/shop)\n- [Bookshop](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/bookshop)\n\n[Home](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/) » [Archive](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/back-issue) » [534](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/back-issue\/534) » Daisy Dunn\n\n« [previous](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/the-wright-stuff \"The Wright Stuff\") \\| [next](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/master-or-joker \"Master or Joker?\") »\n\n[![](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/wp-content\/lr-files\/2024\/10\/Oct-Front-Cover-1-200x266.png) Oct 2024](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/back-issue\/534 \"See articles in Issue 534\")\n\n[Categories more](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/paper-trails-2)\n\n[Art](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/subject\/art), [Cultural History](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/subject\/cultural-history), [History of Art](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/subject\/history-of-art)\n\n[Read more by Daisy Dunn](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/contributors\/daisy-dunn)\n\n[O, Lesbia\\!](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/o-lesbia \"Permanent Link to O, Lesbia!\")\n\n[Antique or Modern?](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/antique-or-modern \"Permanent Link to Antique or Modern?\")\n\n[Was He Apollo’s Son?](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/was-he-apollos-son \"Permanent Link to Was He Apollo’s Son?\")\n\n[Statues of Limitations](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/statues-of-limitations \"Permanent Link to Statues of Limitations\")\n\n[Out of Attica](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/out-of-attica \"Permanent Link to Out of Attica\")\n\n[Sufferings of Helen](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/sufferings-of-helen \"Permanent Link to Sufferings of Helen\")\n\n[Changing of the Guard](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/changing-of-the-guard-2 \"Permanent Link to Changing of the Guard\")\n\n[The Art of Deduction](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/the-art-of-deduction \"Permanent Link to The Art of Deduction\")\n\n[At Home with Oedipus](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/at-home-with-oedipus \"Permanent Link to At Home with Oedipus\")\n\n[Better Than Staying at Home](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/better-than-staying-at-home \"Permanent Link to Better Than Staying at Home\")\n\n[Going French](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/going-french \"Permanent Link to Going French\")\n\n[They Thought the British Barbarians](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/they-thought-the-british-barbarians \"Permanent Link to They Thought the British Barbarians\")\n\n[Minotaur She Wrote](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/minotaur-she-wrote \"Permanent Link to Minotaur She Wrote\")\n\n[My Neat Orderly Greek Wedding](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/my-neat-orderly-greek-wedding \"Permanent Link to My Neat Orderly Greek Wedding\")\n\n[Did They Invent Hair Gel?](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/did-they-invent-hair-gel \"Permanent Link to Did They Invent Hair Gel?\")\n\n[Power to the People](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/power-to-the-people-2 \"Permanent Link to Power to the People\")\n\n[Deep Frieze](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/deep-frieze \"Permanent Link to Deep Frieze\")\n\n- [Tweet](https:\/\/twitter.com\/share)\n- [i Print This]()\n\n# Daisy Dunn\n#### Paper Trails\n### The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History of Art\n## By Susan Owens\n##### Yale University Press 256pp £25\n\nJacques-Louis David, the leading artist of the French Revolution, sketched  \n Marie Antoinette as few had seen her before. Perched on the edge of her seat on the way to her execution, arms bound, lank hair poking free of a decidedly unglamorous cap, David’s queen looks resigned, drawn and peculiarly ordinary. Yet there is a discernible defiance in the way she holds herself and purses her lips. Was this a message to the artist who voted to send her to the guillotine?\n\nDavid’s drawing, done in pen and brown ink, is arresting because it is so unexpected. A good proportion of the hundred drawings reproduced in the art historian and former V\\&A curator Susan Owens’s new book have a similarly esoteric flavour. Instead of preparatory drawings for Paolo Uccello’s famous *The Hunt in the Forest* (c 1470), for example, we have his magnificent study of a chalice in three dimensions. The vessel looks like it was devised on an architect’s computer. From ancient Egypt, we are presented not with tomb graffiti but with a portrait inscribed on a palette belonging to a scribe of Ramesses II and a frivolous but fantastic sketch of a cat waiting on a mouse, which would not look out of place in the pages of *Private Eye*.\n\nOwens’s selection of artworks is superb. Each provides a plot point in her history of drawing from roughly 11,000 BC to the present day. Its scope is enormous, but the book feels suitably intimate. As Owens notes, drawings traditionally represent the private side of art, revealing artists as they\n\n[Subscribe](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/subscribe) or [Sign In](https:\/\/literaryreview.co.uk\/wp-login.php?itsec-hb-token=sign-in) to read the full article\n\n[For People Who Devour Books Only a selection of our reviews and articles are free. Subscribers receive the monthly magazine and access to all articles on our website. 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Perched on the edge of her seat on the way to her execution, arms bound, lank hair poking free of a decidedly unglamorous cap, David’s queen looks resigned, drawn and peculiarly ordinary. Yet there is a discernible defiance in the way she holds herself and purses her lips. Was this a message to the artist who voted to send her to the guillotine?\n\nDavid’s drawing, done in pen and brown ink, is arresting because it is so unexpected. A good proportion of the hundred drawings reproduced in the art historian and former V\\&A curator Susan Owens’s new book have a similarly esoteric flavour. Instead of preparatory drawings for Paolo Uccello’s famous *The Hunt in the Forest* (c 1470), for example, we have his magnificent study of a chalice in three dimensions. The vessel looks like it was devised on an architect’s computer. From ancient Egypt, we are presented not with tomb graffiti but with a portrait inscribed on a palette belonging to a scribe of Ramesses II and a frivolous but fantastic sketch of a cat waiting on a mouse, which would not look out of place in the pages of *Private Eye*.\n\nOwens’s selection of artworks is superb. Each provides a plot point in her history of drawing from roughly 11,000 BC to the present day. Its scope is enormous, but the book feels suitably intimate. As Owens notes, drawings traditionally represent the private side of art, revealing artists as they","meta_canonical":null}

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Boilerpipe Text	Jacques-Louis David, the leading artist of the French Revolution, sketched Marie Antoinette as few had seen her before. Perched on the edge of her seat on the way to her execution, arms bound, lank hair poking free of a decidedly unglamorous cap, David’s queen looks resigned, drawn and peculiarly ordinary. Yet there is a discernible defiance in the way she holds herself and purses her lips. Was this a message to the artist who voted to send her to the guillotine? David’s drawing, done in pen and brown ink, is arresting because it is so unexpected. A good proportion of the hundred drawings reproduced in the art historian and former V&A curator Susan Owens’s new book have a similarly esoteric flavour. Instead of preparatory drawings for Paolo Uccello’s famous The Hunt in the Forest (c 1470), for example, we have his magnificent study of a chalice in three dimensions. The vessel looks like it was devised on an architect’s computer. From ancient Egypt, we are presented not with tomb graffiti but with a portrait inscribed on a palette belonging to a scribe of Ramesses II and a frivolous but fantastic sketch of a cat waiting on a mouse, which would not look out of place in the pages of Private Eye . Owens’s selection of artworks is superb. Each provides a plot point in her history of drawing from roughly 11,000 BC to the present day. Its scope is enormous, but the book feels suitably intimate. As Owens notes, drawings traditionally represent the private side of art, revealing artists as they
Markdown	![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=358987538053315&ev=PageView%0A%09%09&noscript=1) For People Who Devour Books - [Subscribe Today\!](https://literaryreview.co.uk/subscribe%20) - [Sign In](https://literaryreview.co.uk/wp-login.php?itsec-hb-token=sign-in) - [Register](https://literaryreview.co.uk/wp-login.php?action=register&itsec-hb-token=wp-register-php) - [Help](https://literaryreview.co.uk/subscribe#help) # [Literary Review]() Tuesday 7th April, 2026 - [Home](https://literaryreview.co.uk/) - [Archive](https://literaryreview.co.uk/back-issue) - [Bad Sex](https://literaryreview.co.uk/bad-sex-in-fiction-award) - [Search](https://literaryreview.co.uk/search) - [Subscribe](https://literaryreview.co.uk/subscribe) - [About](https://literaryreview.co.uk/about) - [Shop](https://literaryreview.co.uk/shop) - [Bookshop](https://literaryreview.co.uk/bookshop) [Home](https://literaryreview.co.uk/) » [Archive](https://literaryreview.co.uk/back-issue) » [534](https://literaryreview.co.uk/back-issue/534) » Daisy Dunn « [previous](https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-wright-stuff "The Wright Stuff") \\| [next](https://literaryreview.co.uk/master-or-joker "Master or Joker?") » [![](https://literaryreview.co.uk/wp-content/lr-files/2024/10/Oct-Front-Cover-1-200x266.png) Oct 2024](https://literaryreview.co.uk/back-issue/534 "See articles in Issue 534") [Categories more](https://literaryreview.co.uk/paper-trails-2) [Art](https://literaryreview.co.uk/subject/art), [Cultural History](https://literaryreview.co.uk/subject/cultural-history), [History of Art](https://literaryreview.co.uk/subject/history-of-art) [Read more by Daisy Dunn](https://literaryreview.co.uk/contributors/daisy-dunn) [O, Lesbia\!](https://literaryreview.co.uk/o-lesbia "Permanent Link to O, Lesbia!") [Antique or Modern?](https://literaryreview.co.uk/antique-or-modern "Permanent Link to Antique or Modern?") [Was He Apollo’s Son?](https://literaryreview.co.uk/was-he-apollos-son "Permanent Link to Was He Apollo’s Son?") [Statues of Limitations](https://literaryreview.co.uk/statues-of-limitations "Permanent Link to Statues of Limitations") [Out of Attica](https://literaryreview.co.uk/out-of-attica "Permanent Link to Out of Attica") [Sufferings of Helen](https://literaryreview.co.uk/sufferings-of-helen "Permanent Link to Sufferings of Helen") [Changing of the Guard](https://literaryreview.co.uk/changing-of-the-guard-2 "Permanent Link to Changing of the Guard") [The Art of Deduction](https://literaryreview.co.uk/the-art-of-deduction "Permanent Link to The Art of Deduction") [At Home with Oedipus](https://literaryreview.co.uk/at-home-with-oedipus "Permanent Link to At Home with Oedipus") [Better Than Staying at Home](https://literaryreview.co.uk/better-than-staying-at-home "Permanent Link to Better Than Staying at Home") [Going French](https://literaryreview.co.uk/going-french "Permanent Link to Going French") [They Thought the British Barbarians](https://literaryreview.co.uk/they-thought-the-british-barbarians "Permanent Link to They Thought the British Barbarians") [Minotaur She Wrote](https://literaryreview.co.uk/minotaur-she-wrote "Permanent Link to Minotaur She Wrote") [My Neat Orderly Greek Wedding](https://literaryreview.co.uk/my-neat-orderly-greek-wedding "Permanent Link to My Neat Orderly Greek Wedding") [Did They Invent Hair Gel?](https://literaryreview.co.uk/did-they-invent-hair-gel "Permanent Link to Did They Invent Hair Gel?") [Power to the People](https://literaryreview.co.uk/power-to-the-people-2 "Permanent Link to Power to the People") [Deep Frieze](https://literaryreview.co.uk/deep-frieze "Permanent Link to Deep Frieze") - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) - [i Print This]() # Daisy Dunn #### Paper Trails ### The Story of Drawing: An Alternative History of Art ## By Susan Owens ##### Yale University Press 256pp £25 Jacques-Louis David, the leading artist of the French Revolution, sketched Marie Antoinette as few had seen her before. Perched on the edge of her seat on the way to her execution, arms bound, lank hair poking free of a decidedly unglamorous cap, David’s queen looks resigned, drawn and peculiarly ordinary. Yet there is a discernible defiance in the way she holds herself and purses her lips. Was this a message to the artist who voted to send her to the guillotine? David’s drawing, done in pen and brown ink, is arresting because it is so unexpected. A good proportion of the hundred drawings reproduced in the art historian and former V\&A curator Susan Owens’s new book have a similarly esoteric flavour. Instead of preparatory drawings for Paolo Uccello’s famous The Hunt in the Forest (c 1470), for example, we have his magnificent study of a chalice in three dimensions. The vessel looks like it was devised on an architect’s computer. From ancient Egypt, we are presented not with tomb graffiti but with a portrait inscribed on a palette belonging to a scribe of Ramesses II and a frivolous but fantastic sketch of a cat waiting on a mouse, which would not look out of place in the pages of Private Eye. Owens’s selection of artworks is superb. Each provides a plot point in her history of drawing from roughly 11,000 BC to the present day. Its scope is enormous, but the book feels suitably intimate. As Owens notes, drawings traditionally represent the private side of art, revealing artists as they [Subscribe](https://literaryreview.co.uk/subscribe) or [Sign In](https://literaryreview.co.uk/wp-login.php?itsec-hb-token=sign-in) to read the full article [For People Who Devour Books Only a selection of our reviews and articles are free. Subscribers receive the monthly magazine and access to all articles on our website. 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Readable Markdown	Jacques-Louis David, the leading artist of the French Revolution, sketched Marie Antoinette as few had seen her before. Perched on the edge of her seat on the way to her execution, arms bound, lank hair poking free of a decidedly unglamorous cap, David’s queen looks resigned, drawn and peculiarly ordinary. Yet there is a discernible defiance in the way she holds herself and purses her lips. Was this a message to the artist who voted to send her to the guillotine? David’s drawing, done in pen and brown ink, is arresting because it is so unexpected. A good proportion of the hundred drawings reproduced in the art historian and former V\&A curator Susan Owens’s new book have a similarly esoteric flavour. Instead of preparatory drawings for Paolo Uccello’s famous The Hunt in the Forest (c 1470), for example, we have his magnificent study of a chalice in three dimensions. The vessel looks like it was devised on an architect’s computer. From ancient Egypt, we are presented not with tomb graffiti but with a portrait inscribed on a palette belonging to a scribe of Ramesses II and a frivolous but fantastic sketch of a cat waiting on a mouse, which would not look out of place in the pages of Private Eye. Owens’s selection of artworks is superb. Each provides a plot point in her history of drawing from roughly 11,000 BC to the present day. Its scope is enormous, but the book feels suitably intimate. As Owens notes, drawings traditionally represent the private side of art, revealing artists as they
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