9 essential books for art students

Art has been an inspiration for literature for as long as we have any record of it. Jack Keouak was an amateur painter and so was Hermann Hesse. The list of book authors who also had painting as their main hobby is enormous. But which essential books for art students can also be useful? In this case we're focusing on the artistic value an artwork can have to teach students, to inspire them. This is my list and, as you'll know, everyone has their own.

1.The Horse´s Mouth (Joyce Cary)

This novel by the Anglo-Irish writer Joyce Carey deals with the arrival of Impressionism and what that meant for the artists established until then. An interesting analysis in novel form, well worth following.

2.Adriaen Brouwer and David Teniers the Younger (Margret Klinge)

We go from the novel to a portfolio book that picks apart the secrets of the artist's complete works. It covers 55 paintings, ideal for lovers of literature that's closest to art. Although you can read them online.

3.Klassiker der Kunst in Gesamtausgaben (Holbei H.)

A series of art classics across several volumes that are already a fixture on art students' shelves. Even so, it's a work that's hard to find nowadays, although it can be read

4.Rembrandt The Complete Paintings (Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn)

A wonderful edition gathering the works of the European tenebrist par excellence. The images of his paintings are beautifully done and the analysis comes from the greatest experts.

5.Arts and Ideas (William Fleming)

A presentation in the form of a philosophical reflection on the arts as something integral to and impossible to separate from the lives, places and times the artists lived in.

6.Great Drawings of all time (Ira Moskowitz)

A selection of works in four volumes, written to offer an overall view of the most relevant and avant-garde moments in art.

7.The secret Formulas and Techniques of the Masters (Jaques Maroger)

This book, which is easier to find in English and French, is a 200-page work of art devoted to showing some of the techniques used up to the 20th century. It was published in 1979, so its historical value outweighs the practical one.

8.Gloria in excelsis Deo

68 paintings and 139 drawings on religious themes by Frank Mason. The introduction is by James Cooper of the Newington-Cropsey Foundation. Whether or not you like this kind of painting, it's worth it.

9.Drawing Lessons of the Great Masters (Robert Beverly Hale)

One of the most acclaimed books out there, still adding sales year after year. Hale has inspired entire generations of artists. Now it's your turn.

Now that they're all described, which title is missing from this list?

Want to see another of our art book recommendations? Don't miss 7+2 illustrated books for art lovers.