Great Artists, 1971, Book 3, Series 701

A Ladybird Book of Great Artists, book 3 first published in 1970 and was (not surprisingly) the third and last of the Artists books in series 701.  It was something of a family affair – colourfully illustrated by Martin Aitchison and written by his wife Dorothy.  Dorothy and Martin met at art college.  She went on to become an art teacher and so her knowledge of art history helped her to pitch this book perfectly.  Martin’s illustrations in this series (and in the Great Composers books) are filled with evidence of his sense of humour and delight in gentle mischief.  In these three books, he relished the rich vein of pastiche that opened up when painting pictures for a book about people painting well-known pictures.  Book three covers the artists Van Gogh, Gauguin and Cezanne.

This matt copy is in excellent condition inside and out.  It has clean, tight unmarked pages.  It dates to the 1970s, although the original price has been overstamped.