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Painting, Sculpture and Drawing

Art History by Sandra Shaw. These lectures cover man's creation of art from the earliest stone-age beginnings through the late Roman empire, showing the function of art in human life, the evolution of art as man's cognitive abilities and sense of the world and his place in it developed, and, reflexively, Ms Shaw uses her experience as an artist and knowledge of Objectivism to look freshly at the evidence of art and make novel observations on the evolution of man's intellectual abilities and worldview.
Art, The World's Greatest Paintings Explored and Explained by Robert Cumming. An easy introduction to some of the world's greatest paintings, with explanations of their context and content.
Art, A History of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture by Frederick Hartt. A large and comprehensive book with intelligent commentary on art from the earliest to modern times. Of all the complete surveys of art that I know of, this gives the greatest weight to classic art and least to art of the last century. Preferably buy editions 3rd or earlier. Beginning with the 4th edition, the section on modern times has been rewritten by a different author. (out-of-print, see sources.)
Artists on Art, from the XIV to the XX Century by Robert Goldwater and Marco Treves, editors. A treasurehouse of writings by artists about their art.

Advanced and Supplementary

A Handbook of Greek Art by Richter.
History of Italian Renaissance Art, Painting, Sculpture, Architecture by Frederick Hartt. 703 pages, color and b&w illustrations, intelligent commentary.
Bernini, The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque by Rudolph Wittkower. Exultant sculptures by the master sculptor of the Baroque period.
Spanish Still Life in the Golden Age 1600-1650 by William B. Jordan, Kimball Art Museum 1985.. The premier work covering this aspect of the Renaissance in Spain.
Velázquez, Painter and Courtier by Jonathan Brown. Biography and catolog of the works of the greatest Spanish portrait artist.
Vermeer by Blankert, Montias and Aillaud. A detailed review of the paintings, technique and life of the great realist.
Hokusai and Hiroshige, Great Japanese Prints from the James A. Michener Collection, Honolulu Academy of the Arts, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, University of Washington Press. Catalog and description of great works by two of Japan's foremost printmakers.
Yoshitoshi's One Hundred Aspects of the Moon by John Stevenson. Detailed photographs and descriptions of each of the one hundred prints in Yoshitoshi's greatest series.

Technique

Leonardo da Vinci's Advice to Artists by Leonardo da Vinci, edited and annotated by Emery Kelen. Advice on the subject and practice of art, and insight into the mind of the great thinker.
The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques by Ralph Mayer. An encyclopediac compendium, with extensive information. Additionally, this references and distills much of what has been written in other books such as The Materials of the Artist.
Leonardo on Painting, An anthology of writings by Leonardo da Vinci, with a selection of documents relating to his career as an artist. by Martin Kemp, editor; Martin Kenp and Margaret Walker trans.. As much a work of science as painting technique, Leonardo integrates the two.
Oil Painting Techniques and Materials by Harold Speed. Clear exposition of the principles and basic techniques of oil painting.
The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed. Clear instruction on principles and specific techniques of drawing.
Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters, 100 Great Drawings Analyzed; Figure Drawing Fundamentals Defined by Robert Beverly Hale.
The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression by Gary Faigin.
The Science of Art, Optical themes in western art from Brunelleschi to Seurat by Martin Kemp.
The Form of the Book, Essays on the Morality of Good Design by Jan Tschichold. Essays on the technique of immaculate typography in the service of clear exposition.
Image, Designing Effective Pictures by Michael Freeman. Composition of photographic pictures. See also the companion books in the same series, Light and Film
The Art of Color, The Subjective Experience and Objective Rationale of Color by Johannes Itten. Describes the technical aspects of color theory.
The Artistic Anatomy of Trees, Their Structure and Treatment in Painting by Rex Vicat Cole. A detailed guide to every aspect of trees and how to paint them.
Pictorial Composition and the Critical Judgment of Pictures by Henry R. Poore. Though the writing is archaic and sometimes obscure, this book gives valuble advice that I have not yet found elsewhere.

Painting, Sculpture and Drawing

Advanced and Supplementary

Technique

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