Eye candy – art books to devour

Did Whistler himself, as he airily alleged, really want his mum to look “as nice as possible”? Or did he have other thoughts on his mind? And was it those thoughts that caused him to give it its cool (or, at the very least, much cooler) title, Arrangement in Grey and Black? After all, it was quite by chance that Whistler painted his mother at all that day … Whistler’s Mother: The Mystery of America’s Most Famous Painting (Gibson Square, £14.99; Tablet price £13.49) is an engrossing delight of a read.

How exactly is a painting made? In The Secrets of Painting (Thames & Hudson, £38; Tablet price £34.20), Lachlan Goudie dissects 20 great works, from a cave painting at Chauvet made 36,000 years ago, to a master piece from the Sung dynasty; from the artful craft of Reynolds, to the fury of Pollock on his knees. It takes in scene-setting, studio visits and many conversations with experts. How and why were these paintings actually brought to birth? Was money a deciding factor? Did a new material make all the difference – or was it a matter of deploying a revolutionary use of the brush? Was it made all in one go? Or did it take several months? This deep delve into the making of particular works of art is a captivating piece of research.

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