I have a lot of art books; a lot. I consider having good art resources an integral part of being a growing and thriving artist. Furthermore, I realize that there are a lot of art books that are not worth the paper their written on. I will attempt to outline several art books that I consider to be “must have” additions to your library.

The Artist Spirit

Probably the number one book is Robert Henri’s, Art Spirit. I have burned through several copies of this book, and ultimately have a hardbound version that my wife had made for me. It’s number one not only because of content, but because of size and value. written in the early 1900′s, it is easily kept and inexpensive. Purchased for anywhere between $3 to $12.

Having recommended the Art Spirit, I have to say I put into practice much of what Henri says. Henri talks about the value of looking at good art and refraining from becoming accustom to bad art. He talks about a pig in squalor. I recommend that you judge a graphical art book by the quality of their reproduction. You want the best, most truest, color representation you can get.

A big portion of my book collection pertains to books on great artists who have stood the test of time. With this in mind, I would say that any books about the following artists are worth getting.

John Singer Sargent, Sorolla , Chase, Bouguereau, Mancini, DeLaslo

Fechin, Repin,

Leyendecker, Fisher, Bridgman, Loomis

 The Elements of Drawing, by John Ruskin 1857

This book is a sleeper among artistic circles, yet one that I an considering declaring a manditory read for my students. It is such an important text, you can find it in it’s entire text on the Gutenburg Project site, and find a course of study pertaining to its text at Ashmolean, the teachings of John Ruskin at Oxford. For my purpose, I will talk about this book here and in my blog.

Not heavy with illustration this neatly packaged soft cover will take several reads to fully digest. However, it is packed with philosophical approaches to art. If there was a book that covered the “lost secrets” of art, this would be it. I will talk more about the section on “composition” from this book in my blog.