The Best Art Books about London and the River Thames

I've recently created a new website - The Best Art Books about London and the River Thames - which was prompted by review of the book Spanning the Thames: The River and Surrounding from the Barrier to Teddington Lock - see Book Review: Spanning the Thames.

It made me ponder on how many good books there are about artists who have painted London and I decided to try and assemble them all in once place.

My new website comprises my recommendations about the best art books about London and the River Thames. You'll find it has three main sections:

• Art Books about London - these are ones which focus on places in London - often places people are trying to get to
• Art Books about the River Thames - the theme of painting at points up and down the River Thames is a popular one and many artists have developed this theme
• Artists and London - some artists are very closely associated with painting London eg Canaletto and Monet to name but two

It includes books by a diverse set of artists past and present

• Edward Bawden CBE, RA (1903 – 1989) was a British painter, illustrator and graphic artist. (This is a link to the Edward Bawden Archive) 
• David Gentleman - a very popular artist who paints London in pen and ink and watercolour
• various artists who have produced sketchbooks of London
• Plus books about the paintings, drawings and fine art prints produced of places in London by artists from the past such as Canaletto, Monet, Whistler and Dore.  

It also includes a lot of artwork related to transport in London.  There has always been a very strong association between good graphic art and its use on the London Underground, in stations and on posters around the capital.

I've not yet finished adding books to this website but this seems like a good start.  I've got the Camden Town Group on my "to do" group and am happy for people to suggest other artists whose artwork about London and the Thames should also be on this website.

I am also planning a guide to the guide books about seeing art in London!

Book Review: Spanning the Thames

Reading Spanning the Thames: The River and Surrounding from the Barrier to Teddington Lockprompted me to think about the number of books there are about the Thames or reference art and artists who have painted the Thames which led to a new website - of which more in the next post!

The Best Art Books about London and the River Thames
Do you like drawings and paintings of London and the River Thames? If you do then you'll want to review the best art books which show you places in London and along the banks of the River Thames.




However, first my review of this book.  The list of artists whose paintings appear in the book is at the end

Title: Spanning the Thames: The River and Surrounding from the Barrier to Teddington Lock

Synopsis: This is a book about the tidal Thames - in paintings, drawings, prints, stories and historical anecdotes. Twenty five artists were commissioned to illustrate their favourite bridges and buildings along the Thames and this book is the result.  These are accompanied by a story or historical commentary by Michael Harrison  The title is of course a pun on the topic of bridges!

Summary review and recommendation: This is a small book for a small niche market.  Those who buy it are very likely to enjoy it a lot - although I'm not sure it will ever find a large audience. I enjoyed both the artwork and the history stories and the background information about the different bridges and buildings along the tidal Thames.  You think you know something - and then you see it in a completely new light and learn something brand new!

Highlights excellent range of good artists - producing good paintings and fine art prints in a range of different ways using different media the diversity in the artwork produced for this project.  strong on figurative landscapes no photorealism (why bother painting if you can photograph it to achieve this result?) interesting stories

Think Again? no artists of note from the past (ie Monet's paintings of London Bridges and the Houses of Parliament in the fog do not feature in this book!).  This isn't a negative but anybody wanting wanting or expecting such paintings need an another book

Who should buy this?: people who love London and/or the the River Thames and/or marine art people visiting London - it makes a great and unique souvenir

Who should not buy this? those who don't like art and prefer photos

Author / (Publisher) Commentary and stories by Michael Harrison / Images by various artists / (Artists Choice Editions)

Technical data: Publication Date 2008 Hardcover - 84 pages, 160 × 160, casebound with dustwrapper, £12.95 ISBN-10: 0955834309 ISBN-13: 978-0955834301 Amazon.co.uk Spanning the Thames: The River and Surrounding from the Barrier to Teddington Lock Amazon.com  Spanning the Thames

The list of artists whose paintings appear in the book are:

• Sarah Adams - Southwark Bridge
• Kelly Allen - Hammersmith Bridge
• Michael Bennallack Hart - Battersea Bridge
• Jason Bowyer - Chiswick Bridge
• Janet Brooke - Canary Wharf
• Paul Cox - Millennium Bridge - 
• Alfred Daniels - Rowing Crew at Putney - I love the fact I've now got some of his work in a book
• Mick Dean - King Henry's Wharf and Limehouse Wharf
• Anthony Dyson - Dry Dock (Cutty Sark) and Millennium Dome - Member of the RE producing wonderful prints
• Francis Farmar - A Boat Race, Putney. - Francis paints places. Do take a look at his website it's delightful - link is in his name.
• John Griffiths - Teddington Lock Absolutely delightful illustrations in line and wash. John Griffiths died on 13 March 2012.  Here's a blog post about his wonderful drawings / prints
• Frank Kiely - The Globe - It's been a pleasure to watch this Irish artist work his way around London over the last few years - recording the buildings and the Thames as he went! 
• Stuart Kolakovic - Hungerford Bridge 
• David Mann - Grosvenor Bridge from Embankment
• Luke Martineau - Boats at Low Tide near Kew Bridge
• Chris Orr RA - Topless in Battersea -  Professor of Printmaking Royal College of Art 1998
• Neil Pittaway - Tower Bridge - a Fellow of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE)
• Andrew Turnbull - Thames Wharf
• Roy Willingham - The Thames Barrier
• Joseph Winkleman - The London Eye