Herbert Draper.
Simon
Toll’s book on this unjustly neglected Victorian artist has been eagerly
awaited for some time. It is likely to help in the long-overdue re-evaluation
of this great painter, whose wonderful picture “The Kelpie” made such a
vivid impression on me during my first visit to the Lady Lever Art Gallery
many years ago. On subsequent visits to the gallery, my favourite, I always
look at this great picture first.
Buy from Amazon.com
or from Amazon.co.uk
Sargent & Italy by Bruce Robertson
Buy
it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
Sargent
The Early Portraits
by Richard Ormond
Buy
it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
Sargent
Portraits
of
the 1890s by Richard Ormond
Buy
it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
John
Singer Sargent by Carter Ratcliffe
Buy
it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
Jas
MacNeill Whistler By Richard Dorment & Others
Publisher Harry N Abrams.
An Excellent Book. Buy
it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
Whistler
Landscapes & Seascapes By
Donald Holden
Published by Watson Guptill.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
Whistler
On Art - Selected Writings of J MacN Whistler
Smithsonian Institution Press.
Buy it from Amazon.com
The
Paintings of J MacN Whistler (Paul Mellon Centre)
Yale University Press.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
The
Last Romantics The Romantic Tradition in British Art Published
by Lund Humphries
Quite simply the best book/catalogue of its type I have ever
seen. The presentation is excellent, as is the reproduction
of images. The short biographies of artist are quite simply
brilliant, and contain more information than much longer articles.
If you have only one book on this subject, have this one.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
J
W Waterhouse by Peter Trippi
This book discusses at length the beautiful pictures produced
by the artist and their unique appeal 85 years after his death.
It also contains much new biographical information about the
reclusive artist.
Published by Phaidon
Buy
it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
Frederick Sandys 1829-1904 A Catalogue Raisonne.
Sandys is a fascinating figure, until recently
sadly neglected. Betty Elzea does much to remedy this neglect
in her Catalogue Raisonne, the product of many years research.
Sandys was probably the best draughtsman of early Pre-Raphaelite
followers, fully the equal of Millais. The rather carefree bohemian
lifestyle of the artist resulted in a large illegitimate family,
and constant financial problems. This excellent book should
cause a long-overdue re-appraisal of the artist.
Published by the Antique Collectors Club
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
John
Everett Millais Beyond The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
Edited by Debra N Mancoff.
Published by Yale University Press
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
George Romney 1734-1802 by Alex Kidson
One of the great English painters of
the 18th century, regarded in his lifetime as fully
the equal of Reynolds. A painter of sophisticated portraits,
from the age of elegance.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
Lucy
Kemp-Welsh 1877 - 1958 : The Spirit of the Horse by Laura Wortley
published by the Antique Collectors Club
Buy
it from
Amazon.com or
Amazon.co.uk
Books
About The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.
1. The Pre-Raphaelites by Christopher Wood.
One of the best initial sources of information about
the PRB and some of their contemporary artists. Christopher Wood
is one of the leading experts in this area. Published by Weidenfeld
& Nicolson.
Buy it from Amazon.com
2. Victorian Painting by Christopher Wood.
A more comprehensive survey than the above book.
It is extremely well-written, nicely illustrated, and shows real
depth of knowledge about the subject. One of the very best books
on 19th century English art. Published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
Buy it from Amazon.co.uk or from
Amazon.com
3.
Visions of Love and Life
This catalogue was produced in 1995 to accompany
the exhibition of Pre-Raphaelite Art from the collection of Birmingham
Museums and Art Gallery. The exhibition toured extensively in
the United States, before returning to Birmingham. The illustrations
are excellent. The book and catalogue notes were written by Stephen
Wildman, with essays by Jan Marsh and John Christian.
Buy it from Amazon.com
4.
Art In The Age of Queen Victoria
Treasures from the Royal Academy of Arts Permanent Collection.
This book was produced to accompany the exhibition which toured
the United States in 1999, which those of us who live in the United
Kingdom were not privileged to see. No doubt we are far more interested
in the latest rubbish from Damian Hurst and Tracy Ermin. The book
shows many of the most celebrated Diploma Works from the second
half of the 19th Century, and the text is excellent. Published
by the Royal Academy, and Yale University Press.
Buy it from Amazon.co.uk or from
Amazon.com
5. A Victorian Salon, with essays by Simon Olding, Giles Waterfield,
and Mark Bills.
This book shows part of the fascintaing collections at the Russell-Cotes
Art Gallery and Museum in Bournemouth on the South Coast of England.
There is a feature on the Russell-Cotes on this web site. The book
is inexpensive, and well produced and illustrated. Published by
the museum and Lund Humphries of London.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
6. Victorian Painting by Lionel Lambourne.
I bought this book in January 2000, when it was first published.
I then read it, and put it on my book shelves. Having just taken
it down again I am amazed at just how comprehensive it is. It
has chapters on portrait painting, murals, genre painting, childhood,
the nude, women painters, crowd scenes, Pre-Raphaelites, symbolists,
and much more. It is nicely illustrated, with well-chosen pictures,
excellently reproduced.
Buy it from Amazon.com
or from Amazon.co.uk
Art
Monographs
1. Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema by Russell Ash.
A handsome 'coffee table book,' with a relatively
short, but informative essay on the artist and his works, and
a catalogue of his paintings.
Buy it from Amazon.co.uk or from
Amazon.com
2. Edward Burne-Jones by Russell
Ash
A sister volume to the above book on Alma-Tadema, yet again with
a short essay about the life of the artist and his works, accompanied
with a good representative catalogue of his works.
Buy it from Amazon.com
3.
Edward Burne-Jones, Victorian Artist Dreamer by Stephen Wildman
and John Christian
This wonderful book was produced to accompany the exhibition held
in 1998 in New York, Paris, and Birmingham, to commemorate the
hundredth anniversary of the death of the artist. It is sumptuously
illustrated, beautifully printed, written by leading experts on
Burne-Jones, and if you have no other book about him have this
one.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
4.
Frederic, Lord Leighton, Victorian Artist. Published by Harry
N Abrams Inc, Publishers, with the Royal Academy of Arts.
This comprehensive, much illustrated book was produced in 1996,
to accompany the exhibition commemorating the centenary of Leighton's
death. The major contributors were Stephen Jones, Richard and
Leonee Ormond, and Benedict Read. This excellent book I return
to time and again.
Buy it from Amazon.co.uk
5.
Lord Leighton, by Russell Ash, published by BCA.
This coffee table book contains forty excellent illustrations
of Leighton paintings. It opens with a short profile of Leighton,
which is truly excellent, and lifts the whole book way above coffee
table standard. If you read nothing else about the man read this
perceptive intelligent article. Highly recommended.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
6.
John William Godward, The Eclipse of Classicism, by Vern Grosvenor
Swanson.
Godward has, until recently, been regarded as merely a minor follower
of Alma-Tadema, but in recent years the prices brought by his
pictures have dramatically increased. This increase has been driven
by private buyers. Dr Swanson's book is an attempt, by the greatest
expert on the painter, to re-evaluate the artist, his output,
and his achievement. Godward's beautiful paintings are beautifully
shown, and the painter is placed in the context of his time. A
masterly book about a highly talented, fascinating, and tragic
figure. Published by The Antique Collectors Club
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
7
Arthur Hughes His Life & Works, a Catalogue Raisonne compiled
by Leonard Roberts with a Biographical Introduction by Stephen
Wildman.
The ultimate book about this painter, with the perceptive short
biography by Wildman, and the catalogue by Leonard Roberts, the
leading expert on Hughes. Published by The Antique Collectors
Club, whose lavishly produced books are always worth buying for
the interested reader.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
8.
John Everett Millais, by Russell Ash.
The eclipse of the artist's reputation since his death has left
Millais surprisingly under-represented by biographies and catalogues.
Russell Ash's book goes some way towards remedying this situation.
It has a short biography of the artist, and a nicely illustrated
catalogue of forty paintings produced throughout his glitteringly
successful career. Published by Pavilion Books.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
9. Albert Moore, by Robyn Asleson.
In July 2000, I entered a large bookshop in Birmingham, wondering
why there was no adequate book about Albert Moore the man and
artist, and straightaway found, and bought this wonderful book,
which I have since returned to many times. The account of Moore's
life, the development of his fastidiously painted easthetic pictures
is in Robyn Asleson's masterpiece of a book, brilliantly realised.
It is published by Phaidon, and I was so impressed by it I wrote
and complimented both author and publisher.
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
10. Dante Gabriel Rossetti, by
Alicia Craig Faxon.
Professor Faxon is another American academic, with great knowledge,
and expertise in the area of Victorian art. Rossetti was the intellectual
powerhouse of the Pre-Raphaelites; a fascinating and charismatic
man. This book is gorgeously illustrated, and the insight into
Rossetti the man and artist is just amazing. Rossetti is well-represented
in art book catalogues, but this book, of all of them, is the
one to own. Published by Phaidon in the UK
Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
.
11.
The Blue Bower - Rossetti in the 1860s, by Paul Spencer-Longhurst.
This book accompanied the exhibition at the Barber Institute for
Fine Arts in Birmingham UK, and the Stirling & Francine Clark
Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts, held in 2000. The
notes are good, as are the illustrations in the catalogue, which
of course contains Rossetti's famous Blue Bower, effectively a
portrait of Fanny Cornforth, and a particular favourite of mine
Monna Vanna. There are also paintings by other artists, including
Vecchio (C16), Kate Bunce, Burne-Jones, Leighton, Albert Moore,
Sandys, G F Watts, and Whistler. Published by Scala and The Barber.
There is a good reproduction of the Rossetti drawing of Elizabeth
Siddal, looking beautiful, pensive, and ill, by firelight. This
small drawing remains one of the most haunting of the images the
artist produced. Available on Amazon. Buy it from Amazon.com or from Amazon.co.uk
12.
Sargent. Edited by Elaine Kilmurray and Richard Ormond.
This wonderful book was produced in 1998, to coincide with the
exhibition of John Singer Sargent works at the Tate Gallery. It
is abundantly illustrated with the work of this most cosmopolitan
of artists. The portraits of the late 19th and early
twentieth century are really beautifully done, as are the later
impressionistic watercolours. A worthy portrait of one of the
greatest artists of his time and his work
Buy it from Amazon.com
or from Amazon.co.uk
See Antique
Collectors Club page for more recommendations
High Society
The Dictionary of British Watercolour Artists Up to 1920.
