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Some of these books are currently out of print, but don't give up! There is still a possibility
of finding them through Amazon.com.
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| "Still Life": by Norbert Schneider: Taschen,Cologne, 1994 |
Covers the period from the late middle ages to the 17th Century. Scholarly, and well illustrated. Check
it out at Amazon. |
| 'Chardin' : by Marianne Roland Michel |
Expensive, but far & away the best book on Chardin.
Check it out at Amazon.
|
Chardin : An Intimate Art (Discoveries (Abrams))
by Helene Prigent, Pierre Rosenberg , Pierre Rosenberg |
Check it out at Amazon. |
Chardin
by Pierre Rosenberg |
Check it out at Amazon. |
| "Fantin-Latour": by Michelle Verrier: Academy Editions, London, 1977 |
One of the few easy (ish) to find books on its subject, although currently out of print. Check
it out at Amazon
(If you can't find a copy, check here at amazon.co.uk, who seem to have a
books on Fantin-Latour) |
| "Fantin-Latour": Edward Lucie-Smith: Phaidon, Oxford, 1977 |
Out of print. A gem if you can find it. Check
it out at Amazon. 
(If you can't find a copy, check here at amazon.co.uk, who seem to have a
books on Fantin-Latour) |
"The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting, with Notes on the Techniques of the Old Masters":
Max Doerner: Harcourt Brace: rev edn. 1984. |
A great classic: rich, absorbing, thorough, full of techniques and suggestions, never pedantic. Couldn't live without
it. Check it out at Amazon. |
 "The
Artist's Handbook of Methods and Materials": Ralph Meyer: Viking Press 1991 |
The oft quoted technical 'Bible' for the artist. Personally I find it a little dry and sometimes uninspiring, though
always reliable from a 'use and properties of materials' viewpoint. (If you're not careful he'll get you too paranoid
about technical propriety to do any work at all.) But many, many artists swear by it. Or at it. Check
it out at Amazon. |
| "Oil Painting Techniques and Materials": Harold Speed: Reprint,Dover, 1988 |
I was amazed to find this book in print. I have one of the original copies and assumed it was gone for good!
Absolutely great stuff for anyone serious about 'old style' oil painting. Complete run-throughs of a portrait and
a still life painting. First published 1924 Check
it out at Amazon. Please be sure to read the 'readers reviews' of this book at Amazon. They reflect my experience
exactly. |
| "The Practice and Science of Drawing": Harold Speed: Dover, reprint, 1980 |
As good as it's companion volume (see above). Check
it out at Amazon. |
| "The Elements of Drawing": John Ruskin: Watson-Guptill |
A Victorian Classic, and valuable today, although few will now appreciate some of the Old Madman's sterner strictures!
(Ruskin was the foremost art critic of his day, perhaps best known nowadays for sueing James Whistler for 'throwing
a pot of paint in the public's face') You can learn more about Ruskin here
Check it out at Amazon. |
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A distillation from Ruskin's many volumes of criticism. Enormously inspiring, enormously infuriating, quite brilliant.
Check it out at Amazon. |