Main entry:

Carlyle, Leslie.

Title & Author:

The artist's assistant : oil painting instruction manuals and handbooks in Britain, 1800-1900, with reference to selected eighteenth-century sources / Leslie Carlyle.

Publication:

London : Archetype Publications, 2001.

Description:

xviii, 589 pages : illustrations ; 31 cm

Notes:
A revised version of her 1991 doctoral thesis: "A critical analysis of artists' handbooks, manuals and treatises on oil painting published in Britain between 1800-1900."
Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-336) and index.
Introduction : sources -- Part I Materials : oils and driers -- Fixed or drying oils -- Processing of oils -- Driers -- Part II Materials : resins and varnishes -- Oil varnishes -- Spirit varnishes -- Part III Materials : mediums and oil paint -- Vehicles and mediums -- Solvents and diluents -- oil paint and pigments -- Part IV Materials : grounds and supports -- Grounds -- Painting supports -- Part V Painting methods : systems and application -- Systems of painting -- Paint application -- Final varnishing -- Part VI The durability of nineteenth-century paintings -- The anticipation of change in materials -- Responsibility for the quality of artists' materials.

Summary:

As Leslie Carlyle points out in The Artist's Assistant: Oil Painting Instruction Manuals and Handbooks in Britain 1800-1900 with Reference to Selected Eighteenth-Century Sources (a revised and expanded edition of her doctoral dissertation), the exchange and transmission of information among artists on the technical aspects of their calling have been carried on through mostly an "oral tradition," with some further enlightenment provided through artists' diaries, letters, and the occasional published article. In the nineteenth century in England, however, a remarkable number of books and pamphlets having to do with oil painting were published, following on the heels of a large body of work published in the previous century. This book contains remarkable scholarship of the highest order. It provides a wealth of information about the development of English oil painting in an accessible and readable way, and each chapter concludes with an extensive list of notes and references. Its story, to me at least, reveals that two hundred years ago artists and manufacturers were dealing thoughtfully and thoroughly with their materials. This is a reference that should be in every art-history library. It will prove an especially valuable resource for conservators who do research in order to treat nineteenth-century English paintings. --Publisher description

ISBN:

1873132166
9781873132166

Subject:

Painting, Modern 18th century Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Artists' materials.
Peinture 18e siècle Guides, manuels, etc.
Matériel d'artistes.
artists' materials.
21.01 painting technique and materials.
Painting, Modern
Schilderkunst.
Olieverf.
Techniek.
Materialen.
Handboeken.
Peinture Technique.
Matériel d'artistes Grande-Bretagne Guides, manuels, etc.
England Imprints History 18th century.
Angleterre Imprimés Histoire 18e siècle.
England
1800-1899
Painting techniques.

Form/genre:

Bibliographies.
Theses.
handbooks.
Handbooks and manuals
History
Manuals (Handbooks)
Guides et manuels.

Added entries:

Carlyle, Leslie. Critical analysis of artists' handbooks, manuals and treatises on oil painting published in Britain between 1800-1900.

Holdings:

Location: Library study room 228702
Call No.: ND1500 .C3 2001
Status: Available