Art & Art Instruction

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Oil Painting Techniques and Materials - Paperback

$21.95

by Harold Speed (Author)In any exhibition of amateur work . . . it is not at all unusual to find many charming water-colour drawings, but . . . it is very rarely that the work in the oil medium is anything but dull, dead, and lacking in all vitality and charm. -- Harold SpeedSuch provocative assertions are characteristic of this stimulating and informative guide, written in a highly personal and unique style by a noted painter and teacher. Brimming with pertinent insights into the technical a...

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The Technique of Copperplate Calligraphy: A Manual and Model Book of the Pointed Pen Method - Paperback

$7.95

by Gordon Turner (Author)Copperplate, a calligraphic style popular in England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, remains one of the most elegant and popular styles among calligraphers. This volume is a complete manual on the technique of writing with the pointed pen in roundhand, which is the American version of copperplate. You'll find detailed step-by-step instructions for executing the straight stroke, variations on the straight stroke (heavy strokes, hairline), curved stroke, pu...

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Une Semaine de Bonté: A Surrealistic Novel in Collage - Paperback

$26.95

by Max Ernst (Author)One of the clandestine classics of our century. -- The New York TimesThis is the legendary collage masterpieces of Max Ernst (b. 1891), one of the leading figures of the surrealistic movement and among the most original artists of the 20th century. From old catalog and pulp novel illustrations, Ernst produced this series of 182 bizarre and darkly humorous collage scenes of classic dreams and erotic fantasies which seem mysteriously to lure the unconscious into view: Stern...

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The Doré Illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy: 136 Plates - Paperback

$23.95

by Gustave Doré (Author)Gustave Dor (1832-83) was perhaps the most successful illustrator of the nineteenth century. His Dor Bible was a treasured possession in countless homes, and his best-received works continued to appear through the years in edition after edition. His illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy constitute one of his most highly regarded efforts and were Dor 's personal favorites.The present volume reproduces with excellent clarity all 135 plates that Dor produced for The ...

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William Morris Full-Color Patterns and Designs - Paperback

$16.95

by William Morris (Author)Defining beauty in art as the result of man's pleasure in his work, the noted English poet, designer, craftsman and pioneer Socialist William Morris (1834-1896) spent most of his life enthusiastically expounding this view through his many attractive designs for interior furnishings. The present book faithfully reproduces 40 of the most celebrated examples of Morris's work, reprinting in full color all the color plates from The Art of William Morris, published by Geor...

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Pictorial Composition: An Introduction - Paperback

$19.95

by Henry Rankin Poore (Author)A painting's technique, color, and perspective may all be excellent, yet the painting will fail unless its composition succeeds. Composition is the harmonious arranging of the component parts of a work of art into a unified whole. Henry Poore examines the works of old masters and moderns in this book and uses these examples to explain the principles of compositions in art.All the paintings that the author analyzes are illustrated in the text -- 166 illustrations,...

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Concerning the Spiritual in Art - Paperback

$9.95

by Wassily Kandinsky (Author)A pioneering work in the movement to free art from its traditional bonds to material reality, this book is one of the most important documents in the history of modern art. Written by the famous nonobjective painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), it explains Kandinsky's own theory of painting and crystallizes the ideas that were influencing many other modern artists of the period. Along with his own groundbreaking paintings, this book had a tremendous impact on th...

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The Materials and Methods of Sculpture - Paperback

$19.95

by Jack C. Rich (Author)The authority and completeness of the work, the dozens of pertinent plates and textual drawings, add immeasurably to its worth. -- Magazine of ArtBefore the publication of this book there was a dearth of competent instructional books on the technical aspects of sculpture. Mr. Rich, a noted sculptor, remedied that need with this clear, comprehensive and precise guide to every aspect of sculpting in wax, plaster, metal, stone, wood, and other materials. Contending that a...

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$19.95

by Rob Roy Kelly (Editor)The rich designs and figure-ground qualities of 19th-century American wood types are beautifully displayed in this collection of 100 fonts, many reproduced at actual size. Each font is represented by a complete alphabet of capitals, while many include lowercase letters, as well as numerals and punctuation marks, along with useful and decorative motifs from wood blocks. The fonts have been selected from Rob Roy Kelly's extensive personal collection of wood type alphabe...

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The Geometry of Art and Life - Paperback

$12.95

by Matila Ghyka (Author)Is everything chaos and chance, or is there order, harmony, and proportion in human life, nature, and the finest art? Can one find a natural aesthetic that corresponds to a universal order? If so, what importance can it have for the scientist, artist, or layman? What is the true significance of the triangle, rectangle, spiral, and other geometric shapes? These are but a few of the questions that Professor Matila Ghyka deals with in this fascinating book. The author bel...

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$29.95

by Dard Hunter (Author)Just about every aspect of papermaking is covered in this book. Dard Hunter discusses the history of papermaking from its invention in China to its introductions in Europe and in America. He examines the development and uses of the different materials and tools of papermaking: the different types of hand molds, such as the wove mold and the laid mold of China; methods of maceration (beating the cloth); of dipping the molds or pouring the liquid pulp over the molds; and ...

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$12.95

by Prisse D'Avennes (Editor)Ever since the Arab conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, Cairo has been one of the great centers of Islam. The noted French historian Prisse d'Avennes published from 1869 to 1877 his monumental L'art arabe, a sumptuous set of plates illustrating a wide range of art treasures located in and around Cairo. In the city's mosques and palaces, Prisse d'Avennes discovered rare architectural ornaments (tiles, wood carving, paintings on walls and ceilings, woven hangi...

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$7.95

by Edward Hopper (Author)Edward Hopper holds an important place in twentieth-century American art. In his scenes of urban and rural life -- canvases that reveal his rare, highly focused technical accomplishment and his deep psychological penetration -- he created indelible images that often convey the loneliness of persons within their environment. Highly individual, instantly recognizable, his works are among the most esteemed in collections of American art.The Whitney Museum of American Art...

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Thomas Nast's Christmas Drawings - Paperback

$9.95

by Thomas Nast (Author)Finely detailed drawings of St. Nick, sleigh rides, reindeer, and "The Night Before Christmas" are all depicted in this seasonal collection of 66 Yuletide illustrations by the creator of the popular Santa Claus image.Back JacketThomas Nast (1840-1902) created the images of Santa Claus which we recognize today. Here are his best-known illustrations of Santa Claus and Christmas. Included are his drawings of Santa perched atop snowy chimneys and his patriotic Civil War dra...

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$19.95

by Alphonse Mucha (Author)The artistic legacy of Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860-1939), one of the founders of the Art Nouveau style, is both brilliant and bewilderingly diverse. Mucha is most famous for his Sarah Bernhardt posters and his magnificent decorative panels such as The Seasons, works that continue to grow in popularity, despite the indifferent quality of most modern reproductions. To graphic artists and commercial designers, Mucha is praised for the innovative stylebooks that pioneered...

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$7.95

by Peter Paul Rubens (Author)Peter Paul Rubens' gifts as an artist were as comprehensive as they were supreme. A prolific painter of illimitable resource and invention, he was a master of intellect and emotion, figure and form, color and sweep. In all his artistic endeavors, he proved himself the true heir of Renaissance art of both the North and the South, inspired by -- and assimilating -- the best of both. Yet he was very much a man of his time and in retrospect the most powerful, exuberan...

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Rackham's Color Illustrations for Wagner's Ring - Paperback

$15.95

by Arthur Rackham (Author), James Spero (Introduction by)"His pictures, which seemed to me then [aged 13] to be the very music made visible, plunged me a few fathoms deeper into my delight. I have seldom coveted anything as I coveted that book." -- C.S. LewisBefore portraying Wagner's "Ring," Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) had become England's leading illustrator through his interpretations of fairy and fantastic books: Grimm's Fairy Tales, Rip van Winkle, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, A Midsu...

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Drawing in the Present Tense - Paperback

$50.00

by Claire Gilman (Author), Roger Malbert (Author) Drawing in the Present Tense explores the variety of ways in which contemporary artists from around the world have come to approach drawing as the primary element of their practice. One which is autonomous: an end in itself, rather than a means to an end in another, more substantial medium. In an era of advanced technologies where image production has accelerated--potentially beyond the capacity of human attention--what values can be attribute...

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Contemporary Art (Art Essentials) - Paperback

$18.95

by Natalie Rudd (Author)Since the 1960s, contemporary art has overturned the accepted historical categorizations of what constitutes art, who creates it, and how it is represented and validated. This guide brings the subject up to date, exploring the notion of "contemporary" and what it means in the present as well as how it came about.Curator and writer Natalie Rudd explains the many aspects of contemporary art, from its backstory to today, including different approaches, media, and recurrin...

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$14.95

by Wassily Kandinsky (Author)"I had the impression that here painting itself comes to the foreground; I wondered if it would not be possible to go further in this direction."Thus did the young Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944) react to his first viewing of Monet's Haystack, included in an 1895 Moscow exhibit of French Impressionists. It was his first perception of the dematerialization of an object and presaged the later development of his influential theories of non-objective art...

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Mexican Painters: Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros, and Other Artists of the Social Realist School - Paperback

$22.95

by Mackinley Helm (Author)From the monumental public frescoes of Diego Rivera, Jos Clemente Orozco, and David lfaro Siqueiros, to the canvasses and drawings of younger artists like Galv n, Cant , Meza, Tamayo, and Orozco Romero, Mexican painting since the First World War has developed into a strong, influential artistic tradition.This book explores this Mexican tradition -- the artists, their works, the social and political background, and the relationship of the modern painters to European...

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Erte's Theatrical Costumes in Full Color - Paperback

$14.95

by Erte (Author)"All-around beautiful and worth picking up for anyone interested in fashion, theatre, theatrical costuming, and art." --Looking for a Good Book"This book is an absolute delight for any fan of costume design history, and it is sure to inspire budding theatrical designers. Brilliant and colorful." -- bookaddictionA fan-bearing slave girl, a worshipper of Horus, the wife of a Russian boyar, Ceres, a mermaid, and a gypsy dancer are among the 49 theatrical costumes selected for thi...

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$7.95

by Michelangelo (Author)Throughout his long life, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) never ceased to practice drawing with pen, pencil, or chalk. In the 60 years of creative activity encompassed by this volume, the artist produced scores of sketches, drawings, and studies -- nudes, heads, figure studies, Madonnas, anatomical drawings, studies of children and animals, mythical representations, and religious works. This book reproduces 46 of his finest drawings, embodying most of his artistic ...

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$7.95

by Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen (Author)These 66 drawings and eight picture-stories represent the best of Steinlen's scattered, rare cat depictions, available nowhere else. Artists will learn cat dynamics from the spare, expressive lines.Back JacketThéophile-Alexandre Steinlen (1859-1923), one of the greatest illustrators of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was born in Lausanne, Switzerland, but moved permanently to Paris at the age of 23 and became a French citizen.In addit...

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$9.95

by Leonardo Da Vinci (Author)Although Leonardo da Vinci was one of the greatest artists who ever lived, his career was marked by an unusually large number of uncompleted projects and by finished works that rapidly deteriorated. Nevertheless, his influence is undoubted, and his claim to greatness rests chiefly on his drawings, which have been carefully preserved in such locations as Windsor Castle, the Louvre, the Uffizi Gallery, and the British Museum.This collection, excellently reproduced i...

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Costumes of the Greeks and Romans - Paperback

$12.95

by Thomas Hope (Author)From headdresses to sandals, from warrior's armor to priestess's robes, the authentic costumes of people from all walks of life in the Roman and Greek civilizations are here pictured comprehensively and clearly. Three hundred finely drawn, detailed engravings (containing over 700 illustrations) show just what was worn by the poets, philosophers, priests and priestesses, peasants, Bacchanalians, emperors, generals, Amazons, and virgins of a bygone age.Carefully copied fr...

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Medieval Calligraphy: Its History and Technique - Paperback

$27.95

by Marc Drogin (Author)"Vastly rewarding and illuminating." -- American Artist This comprehensive history and instruction manual contains, in one volume, thirteen significant medieval scripts, with a history of the evolution of the alphabets, and fascinating background material on the scribes, their world, and how writing styles changed over a thousand years. Moreover, it is the only modern book that provides clearly described, brilliantly photographed, and accurately reproduced examples of b...

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$19.95

by E. S. Lumsden (Author)An expert traces every step in the creation of etchings, from essential materials to completed proof, and presents a rich historical survey of the art. 200 figures and annotated plates.Back JacketThis is the first inexpensive republication of probably the finest work on the techniques of etching, drypoint, soft-ground etching, aquatint, and the allied arts. Lumsden, the renowned etcher, Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy, and author of the article on etching tech...

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$14.95

by Cennino Cennini (Author)This is D. V. Thompson's definitive English translation of Il Libro dell'Arte, an intriguing guide to methods of painting, written in fifteenth-century Florence. Embodying the secrets and techniques of the great masters, it served as an art student's introduction to the ways of his craft.Anyone who has ever looked at a medieval painting and marveled at the brilliance of color and quality of surface that have endured for 500 years should find this fascinating readin...

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An Atlas of Animal Anatomy for Artists - Paperback

$19.95

by W. Ellenberger (Author), Francis A. Davis (Author)"Highly recommended as one of the very few books on the subject worthy of being used an an authoritative guide." -- Design "Illustrators, sculptors, and taxidermists who draw or model animals will welcome this new revised edition." -- Natural HistoryHere are 288 remarkably lifelike drawings of animals, furnishing artists and students with an easy-to-follow method of instruction in the drawing of horses, dogs, lions, cows and bulls, stags, a...

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Treasury of Art Nouveau Design & Ornament - Paperback

$21.95

by Carol Belanger Grafton (Editor)Ornament is the essence of Art Nouveau. Throughout their two decades of dominance, Art Nouveau artists concentrated on the ornamental and decorative potential of the flowing line in painting, printing, wallpaper, and all other fine and applied arts. Hundreds of thousands of carefully wrought designs embellished books, bookplates, furniture, and appliances. A fashionable home was a garden of graphic florals, petals, leaves, and stems.Today, Art Nouveau is agai...

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Design Motifs of Ancient Mexico - Paperback

$14.95

by Jorge Enciso (Author)"A rich source of inspiration." -- San Francisco Examiner"Couldn't be more practical . . . meets the highest standard." -- Interior Design and DecorationHere is an unusual collection of pictorial material for artists, commercial designers, handicraft workers, and at-home hobbyists -- 766 vigorous primitive designs that will add color and strong, rhythmic lines to textile work, leather craft, wood and metalwork, advertising art, and other areas where novel decorative id...