[THE ART OF PAINTING] Zametki po tekhnike zhivopisi [i.e. Notes on Painting Technology]

Moscow: Khudozhestvenno izd-vo AKHR, 1930. 96 pp. 17.5x12.5 cm. In original illustrated publisher's wrappers. Loss of the pieces of the spine, several pages detached. Otherwise in good condition.

Scarce. 1 of 5,000 copies. Second edition. First edition printed in 1929. Woodcut on the front wrapper by the Soviet artist Nikolay Sheverdyaev (1872-1952). At different times, Nikolay attended Sunday classes of the Stroganov school of industrial art in Moscow (1890-1895) and the Central school of technical drawing of Baron Stieglitz (1898- 1905). From the 1920s, he taught in VKhUTEMAS etching, and was Dean of the graphic faculty.

Translated from French by G. Kepinov. Edited by V. Yakovlev.

This is the Russian translation of the famous work Zametki po tekhnike zhivopisi [i.e. Notes on Painting Technology] written by the French artist Augustin-Jean Moreau-Vauthier (1831-1893). In the preface to the Russian edition, the editorial board underlines the importance of the study of painting technology: "This question has aroused, after endless wanderings from the impasse of Cubism to the impasse of non objectivity, from the claims of ego-futurism and impotent expressionism. We need art, in its quality, capable of adequately reflecting our great era, and the Russian technique of painting in this regard is on a very low level." In the first chapters of the book, the author defines three different types of painting: opaque, transparent, and mixed painting. In the following sections, Moreau-Vauthier concentrates on each kind of painting and provides information on multiple painting technologies: wax paints, gouache, egg paints, encaustic paints, solid oil paints, etc. The text also features descriptions of various materials used in painting, such as wood, cardboard, paper, canvas, and offers interesting analysis of paints of different colors and their usage: black, yellow, red, blue, brown, etc. Some of the colors are supplemented with brief tables, showing the most and least durable paints. The edition includes author's recommendations on the application of different technologies in accordance with artists' conception.