A Short History Of French Painting

London: Humphrey - Milford Oxford University Press. Good +. 1931. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo Blue cloth covers, gilt lettering to spine. Small nick to top of spine, slide fade. Lower corners bumped. Bibliography, indexed, 356 pages clean and tight. "PREFACE. THIS work has been planned to meet the need for a book, written in easy language, which shall deal with the whole of French painting from the earliest times to the present day. All technical terms have been excluded where possible and explained where not. I have tried to describe, in few and simple words, what French painting stands for, the main characteristics of the chief painters, and the aims of the 'schools' with which they are associated. Sainte-Beuve believed that, to understand the work of an artist, it was necessary 'to follow him as far as possible into his home, and to study his everyday domestic habits'. With this in view, in the case of more important painters I have told the story of their lives and careers at some length. I have consulted most of the works mentioned in the Bibliography and am indebted also to the following friends for various suggestions. To these I take this opportunity of expressing my gratitude: Anthony Butts, Anthony Crossley, Richard Davidson, Geoffrey Dearmer, Percy Dearmer, Frank Dobson, Michael Holroyd, Aldous Huxley, Margaret Konody, James Layer, John Mansbridge, Gustavus Mayer (of Messrs. P. and D. Colnaghi), Paul Nash, Ben Nicholson, Robert O'Brien, Vladimir Polunin, Edward Russell, Edward Sackville-West, Kathleen, John, and Jacynthe Underwood, Rebecca West, and Hartley Withers. E. G. U. SEMUR EN AUXOIS, Côte D'or. September, 1931." .