Last week was the first class of my winter term “Still Life with Oils - Master Copy Class”, taught online through the Art League of Alexandria.

This term the master copy we are focusing on is a Dutch Golden Age Still Life by Willem van Aelst “Flower Still Life with a Watch, 1663”.

Flower Still Life with a Watch, 1663 by Willem van Aelst

In anticipation of this class, I have been making my way through a few art books, that you too might be interested to know about.

The first book I am reading through is “Elegance and Refinement, the Still-Life Paintings of Willem van Aelst”, its a monograph dedicated to the life’s work of Willem van Aelst. It has a fantastic essay “The Making of a Luxury Image: Van Aelst’s painting materials and artistic techniques”. I read this several years ago, and have since re-read it. It is full of really good information, especially not that I am teaching how to copy his work.

The second book I am reading is “Still Life: Techniques and Style” This is a particularly thorough book about oil painting techniques employed by several paintings at the Rijksmuseum. I am finding it fascinating. I especially like geeking out on the essay about the methods and materials used in 17th century still-life paintings.

The third book is Dutch Flower Paintings. I love this book. I read some of the essays back in 2015 when I first got it and recently have been re-reading them in preparation of my Master Copy class I am teaching on Tuesdays. This book is an interesting investigation on the paintings themselves and what was occurring in the Dutch society during the 17th century. If you want to understand more of what influenced the artists that created these flower paintings, then I encourage you to get a copy of this book.

Each of these books are is a gem to own and learn from and fall even more in love with Dutch Golden Age still-life painting!