Timothy Hyman argues that figuration never went away; abstraction was just one of the ways by which artists renewed pictorial language. This book is structured not as a general survey, but as an in-depth exploration of over 130 specific paintings, and accompanying artists' writings. Focusing on those painters who took a contrary path, he presents a case for these artists as a resistance of sorts. Starting with the oppressive stylistic imperative that set in as Cubism became a movement, he guides us through the Neue Sachlichkeit response to Expressionism, Intimism, 'outsiders' and the aftermath of Abstract Expressionism, towards a new kind of history painting. He shows how abstraction becomes a midwife to a new kind of figuration. A celebration of the richness of human-centred painting over the last century, Timothy Hyman's lavishly illustrated new book brings these often-marginalized artists centre stage. Together they offer a counter-argument to Western formalism, and a foundation for the figurative painters of the 21st century.