Artistic Anatomy by Dr. Paul Richer
About the Book
Published over 120 years ago (1906) Artistic Anatomy (Nouvelle Anatomie Artistique du Corps Humain) is a tremendous volume describing and illustrating the human form as it relates to the artist. The first half of the book describes in extreme detail the various skeletal and muscular forms and systems. Written in medical terminology, the text is dense. However, it’s the illustrated plates (150 pages) in the back half of the book (which we present here) that have informed and inspired artists for decades.
About the Author
Dr. Paul Richer (17 January 1849 – 17 December 1933), was a renowned French anatomist, physiologist, sculptor, and medallist. He was a professor of artistic anatomy at the École des Beaux-Arts, and a member of Académie Nationale de Médecine. Along with Jean-Martin Charcot he conducted research into hysteria and epilepsy. However, he is best known for his scientific studies and writings on artistic anatomy which focus on the skeletal and muscular systems of the human body. In particular his books Artistic Anatomy and Morphologie: la femme, can be considered the foundation of modern study into artistic anatomy.
