OIL PAINTING:
Art Since 1900, Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism, Vol. 2: 1945 to the Present, by Hal Foster, Rosland Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, Benjamin H.D. Buchloh, c2004.
The authors present four different theoretical constructs for "framing the art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries:" 1) psychoanalytical, 2) social historical, 3) formalistic and structuralistic, and 4) post-structuralistic and deconsructivistic. This book provides a very academic assessment of the major art movements of post WWII.

The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques by Ralph Mayer.
Every aspiring artist should have this book in his/her personal library. It is a technical book about techniques and material. You can find out about the various print-making techniques, like aquatint, drypoint, etching and lithograph; how to make your own oils; when and which painting medium should be used; and more important, which art material is poisonous and what to do if it is accidently ingested!

Formulas for Painters: 200 formulas for making paints, glazes, mediums, varnishes, grounds, fixatives, sizes..., by Robert Massey, c1967.

The Story of Art by E. H. Gombrich, c1972 by Phaidon Press Ltd.
This book is one of the best presentations of western art history. It starts with a chapter on art and the artist, followed by a chapter on primitive art; however, the indepth historical assessment begins with Egyptian art (2700 b.c.). The book was first published in 1950, so it ends with experimental art of the 1950s. Despite the amount of information given (there are lots of names and dates), it is very interesting and very easy to read. Illustrations are inserted next to the text so you can glance at them immediately without having to flip pages. In the few instances where the author refers to previously introduced illustrations for comparative purposes, he gives the page numbers so you can go to those illustrations directly.

The Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms, by Simon Wilson and Jessica Lack, cTate 2008.

PAINTING TECHNIQUE (palette knife):
Oil Painting Techniques: Learn how to create dynamic textures with the versatile painting knife by William F. Powell, c1990, Walter Foster Publishing, Inc.

COLOR THEORY:
Color Basics by Stephen Pentak and Richard Roth, c2004.

Color Choices: Making color sense out of color theory by Stephen Quiller*, c1989.

Mixing Colors 2: Oil, Barron's Art Handbooks, c1998.

Principles of Color by Faber Birren, c1987.

*Note: Quiller is a watercolorist; his selection of oils contains several transparent color recommendations which are difficult to work with when trying out his color exercises (e.g., viridian, ultra-violet, alizarin crimson). It is better to find their equivalent in opaque oil before embarking on these exercises.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING:
Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques, by Vicky Perry, c2005.

Aesthetics: A Study of the Fine Arts in Theory and Practice, by James K. Feibleman, c1949, repritned 1968.

Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye by Rudolf Arnheim, c 1954.
This is an excellent book for those who want a deeper understanding of the elements of composition: balance, shape, form, growth, space, light, color, movement, dynamics and expression. Arnheim gives an in-depth discourse on each, chapter-by-chapter, in physiological, psychological and artistic terms.

Chinese Calligraphy: An Introduction to Its Aesthetic and Technique by Chiang Yee, c1973.

Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Finlay, c2002.

Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky, translated and with an introduction by M.T.H. Sadler, c1977.

Concepts of Modern Art: From Fauvism to Postmodernism edited by Nikos Stangos, 3rd ed, c 1994.

Contemporary Art: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Stallabrass, c2004.
This book gives a good overview of the political and economic environment of the art world today... what the author calls "the regulation and incorporation of art in the new world order."

Hidden Harmony: The Connected Worlds of Physics and Art by J.R. Leibowitz, c2008.

Point and Line to Plane by Wassily Kandinsky, Dover edition, 1979.