Artistic Anatomy: The Great French Classic on Artistic Anatomy

by Paul Richer, Robert Beverly Hale

Artistic Anatomy is widely acknowledged to be the greatest book of its kind since the Renaissance. The original French edition, now a rare collector's item, was published in 1889 and was probably used as a resource by Renoir, Braque, Degas, Bazille, and many others. The English-language edition, first published 35 years ago, brings together the nineteenth century's greatest teacher of artistic anatomy, Paul Richer, and the twentieth century's most renowned teacher of anatomy and figure drawing, Robert Beverly Hale, who translated and edited the book for the modern reader. Now Watson-Guptill is proud to reissue this dynamic classic with an anniversary sticker, sure to inspire drawing students well into our century.

Genres: Art, Drawing, Reference, Nonfiction, Art Design

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Paul Marie Louis Pierre Richer, né le 17 janvier 1849 à Chartres et mort le 17 décembre 1933 à Paris, est un neurologue, anatomiste, historien de la médecine, illustrateur, sculpteur et médailleur français.

Reviews

[Danielle Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though this book is widely hailed as a classic, I actually am not too enthusiastic about it. If you are thinking of purchasing this book, then you must know that 1) the majority of the visual reference material is concentrated in the back of the book, 2) this is not a book on the actual practice of drawing the human form, and 3) the vast majority of this book is composed of detailed medical data and terms. With that disclaimer out of the way, on to the actual review.

Though the writing is heavy on the medical terms and can come off as very dry and academic at times, this is still a well-written and well-researched book if that high level of scientific detail is exactly what you're looking for. The big prize in this book in my opinion, however, is the final chapter, where Richer discusses cannons of proportion and outlines his own. Not only does Richer admit that--even in classical drawing--there is wiggle room with proportions because cannons of proportion are generally based around averages and ideals, but he fully details his own cannon of proportion, which is probably the most handy thing in this entire book. In fact, I have seen Richer's cannon of proportion in use in How to Draw Manga: Male Characters and other various works and tutorials on drawing the human figure as well.

So, in conclusion, if you're looking for an anatomy book that's heavy on the visual examples and light on the in-depth medical jargon, then this is probably not a title that will be at the top of your list. It's worth owning for the cannon of proportions, the discussion on the subject of proportions, and the illustrated plates in the back...but unless you are a big medical/physiology/morphology buff, the rest of the book will likely leave you cold.

[Duc Ngo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The content is amazing; all other anatomical art textbooks are derived from the information in this book. Meaning, if you get this one book, you get them all!

However, the organization of the plates (images) accompanying each section is terrible. I also hate the binding for the book as it does not lay flat. However, I want my review to emphasize the content of the book itself, which contains everything you would need.

The verbiage is a little odd because of when the original source text was produced. It takes a few readings but nothing that people would find difficult.

[Γιώργος Τζαβέλας · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good and informative, I also enjoy copying the drawings

[J. Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The references are good but the descriptions and writings are a bit hard to follow. The first half of the book is all text and the second half is actual anatomy reference.

[Mark Feiler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Detailed analysis of artistic anatomy. Great illustrations !

[Luke McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dry as hell but essential

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book that an artist might want to have on hand when drawing.

[John Pattillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

A medical anatomist studies anatomy from the aspect of the healthy biological functioning of the body, and then of its malfunctioning. The artistic anatomist studies anatomy from the aspect of the visual appearance of the body, and from this establishes a canon of beauty.

An artist includes and deliberately leaves out aspects of the visual body in order to produce the image he seeks to project. Richer’s book, in text and images, gives an artist a superb grounding in those things he needs to know to achieve these goals.

[Houssam Moughrabi]

Le meilleur method de l'anatomie artistique . .. je l'ai lu et dessine tous

[kenzimone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and detailed. Great illustrations of bones/muscles composition.