Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters - 100 Great Figure Drawings Analyzed

Hale, Robert Beverly; Coyle, Terence

ISBN 10: 0823002225 / ISBN 13: 9780823002221

Published by Watson-Guptill Publications; Pitman Publishing, New York and London, 1977

About this Item

First Edition / First Print. Hardback copy in black boards with silver gilt lettering to front and spine. Unclipped dustjacket in new removable protective clear sleeve. 271pp. B/w illustrations throughout. Not library copy, no inscriptions. (50/4).

Seller Inventory # ABE-1650958329648

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters - 100 Great Figure Drawings Analyzed
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill Publications; Pitman Publishing, New York and London
• Publication Date: 1977
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0823002225
• ISBN 13: 9780823002221
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Drawings of the human figure by great artists including Michelangelo, Rubens, Raphael, Titian, Rembrandt, Delacroix, and Degas, showing the body from various angles, are reproduced and analyzed in detail

Review

Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters provides an anatomical counterpart to Robert Beverly Hale's classic reference book, Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters. Terence Coyle, who for several years assisted Hale at the Art Students League of New York, kept detailed notes of Hale's lectures and teaching methods. He combined these notes with 100 drawings to illustrate how the great masters portrayed specific parts of the human physique. As Hale points out, master artists such as Rembrandt, Leonardo, and Raphael "absorbed the technical details of anatomy so well that these details could be set down instinctively.... If an artist has to occupy his mind with the task of clumsily grouping the elemental facts of anatomy as he draws, there can be little room left for really important matters--such as the spirit of the drawing and the artist's expressive intent." Coyle provides several examples within the study of each anatomical area to illustrate the variety of styles and methods employed by the masters. The book treats, in order, the rib cage, the pelvis and thigh, the knee and lower leg, the foot, the shoulder girdle, the arm, the hand, and the neck and head. A complete series of anatomical reference plates by Dr. Paul Richer is included. By applying the timeless anatomical principles the great masters have handed down to us, any artist can begin to acquire the means by which to express the "really important matters." --Mary Ribesky