Artists as diverse as Titian, Monet, and Picasso have used oil paint. Abstract painters and pop artists, Expressionists, and photorealists have all used it, each movement renewing the possibilities of this wonderful medium. Contemporary artists such as Lucian Freud, Wayne Thiebaud, and Frank Auerbach also all use oil, each in a dramatically different way. The possibilities for expression seem endless. The story of oil painting is long and grand, but...