Cressida Campbell is a renowned and gifted artist who depicts the essence of her familiar subjects in water colour, painted woodblocks and woodblock prints. Conscious of the legacy of Margaret Preston, Campbell portrays beauty in everyday scenes such as domestic still lives, industrial maritime scenes and rooftops overlooking Sydney harbour. Her work is given depth through solid composition and vivid colour. A fine draughtswoman and strong designer, her works show graphic elements reminiscent of Japanese prints. WOODBLOCK PAINTING OF CRESSIDA CAMPBELL is the first comprehensive survey of her work in print. It spans pictures produced from 1984 to 2007 to guide the viewer through the imaginative world of one of Australia's most uncompromising artists
'Studio' presents an extraordinary anthology of visual and verbal insights into the way paintings are made, and the complex blend of motivation and inspiration that sustains the painter in his or her solitary search for meaning.
A captivating novel of manners that tells the story of a dark and disturbing period of British history, by a master storyteller. It is the summer of 1938 and Phyllis Forrester has returned to England after years abroad. Moving into her sister’s grand country house, she soon finds herself entangled in a new world of idealistic beliefs and seemingly innocent friendships. Fevered talk of another war infiltrates their small, privileged circle, giving way to a thrilling solution: the appointment of a great and charismatic new leader who will restore England to its former glory. At a party hosted by her new friends, Phyllis lets down her guard for a single moment, with devastating consequences. Years later, Phyllis, alone and embittered, recounts the dramatic events which led to her imprisonment and changed the course of her life forever. Powerful, poignant, and exquisitely observed, After the Party is an illuminating portrait of a dark period of British history which has yet to be fully acknowledged.
The compelling biography of the beautiful, talented Garman sisters and the glittering, romantic era in which they lived. Each of the seven Garman sisters were strikingly beautiful, artistic and wild. Born around the turn of the nineteenth century, most of the siblings were to become involved in the radical literary and political circles of British life between the First and Second World Wars. Their morals were unconventional: bisexuality, unfaithfulness and illegitimate children were a matter of course. Nevertheless they were high-minded and intensely loyal. They were the last muses: women who were prepared to sideline their own talent, friendships, material comforts - even their own children - in order to beguile and inspire the men they loved. Cressida Connolly's family biography delves into the lives of three of the sisters in intense and revealing detail. Kathleen Garman, the father's favourite, ran away to London to study music. She was spotted by the American sculptor Jacob Epstein, who promptly fell in love with her, and remained his muse until his death. she finally became Lady Epstein in 1955. Mary Garman came to London with Kathleen and studied art at the Slade. She married poet Roy Campbell, who was to become the scourge of the literary establishment by espousing General Franco's side during the Spanish Civil War. Finally there was Lorna Garman, the youngest and most beautiful of all the family. At sixteen she married the wealthy Ernest Wishart, a landowner, communist and founder of the socialist publishing house Laurence & Wishart, who spent most of his life turning a blind eye to his wife's infidelities. Lorna was the love of Laurie Lee's life and they had a daughter. Lucian Freud painted several pictures for her. Through Cressida Connolly's skilfull retelling of these remarkable lives, we get an intimate portrait of a golden age of romance, passion and art that is an original, beguiling read.
A rich survey of the work of more than forty still life artists, which presents the genre in a uniquely contemporary light. Still life painting is a practice that goes back centuries but has recently been reinvigorated by a new generation of contemporary artists. Still Life explores the diverse practices of more than forty contemporary artists and documents their styles, subjects, visions, and philosophies as they reinterpret this art form for our age. While flowers and food are mainstays of the genre, more anomalous objects—such as books and beer cans, birds and balloons—can be found within these pages, adding an energy and intrigue to both the composition and the story of the work. This book captures the inanimate beauty of the everyday in the twenty-first century, and offers a meditation on human experience as well as the brevity of life. Featuring interviews with each of the artists, this accessibly written book is as appealing to established artists as it is for artists who are just starting out. Quoting John Bokor, author Amber Creswell Bell shares that “A collection of objects—no matter how mundane—tells a story. They are like a little world; you can get lost in them.” As a survey of stunning work or as an inspirational volume for the budding artist, this book presents in full color the art of today’s most original artists.
Blooms and Brushstrokes takes you on a unique journey through the history of Australian art, one flower at a time, examining the blooms depicted in still lifes, floral portraits, decorative interiors and botanical illustrations by a long line of Australian artists. Mother-and-daughter team Penelope and Tansy Curtin start this fascinating journey in the late eighteenth century, when the traditions adhering to the Western art canon were transplanted into the newly colonised Australia. They follow it through the rapidly developing artistic styles of the early twentieth century, to the new media of the contemporary period. These works of art also shine a light on the role and importance of plants and flowers in everyday life. They illustrate changing floral fashions, as well as highlighting flowers in their various forms - cut flowers, pot plants and gardens. And along the way you'll encounter many of Australia's most significant artists, including John Glover, Arthur Streeton, Margaret Preston, Grace Cossington Smith, John Brack and Margaret Olley, as well as some of Australia's most beautiful, and sometimes intriguing, native flora, such as the waratah and Sturt's desert pea, not to mention perennial garden favourites like roses, sweet peas and daisies. Spectacular, intimate, engaging and meticulously researched - and full of interesting and quirky facts about the flowers and the artists themselves, Blooms and Brushstrokes is a book for art, flower and history lovers alike.
Lowell Tarling recorded Martin Sharp's life, and his effect on his friends, over twenty years. Now two volumes in one, in advance of the film of these books - GHOST TRAIN... Sharp: The Road to Abraxas - Part One, 1942-1979 Sharper: Bringing It All Back Home - Part Two, 1980-2013 'Like the Ancient Mariner, it's also a ghastly tale. I could understand the events at Luna Park a bit. I was trying to understand them and then suddenly there was this poetic language working to say: this is a crucifixion, Golgotha, death by fire. And then it starts to fit into Apocalyptic vision. It was Abraxas if you like - the dark face and the light face. To look upon Abraxas is blindness. To know it is sickness. To worship it is death. To fear it is wisdom. To assist it not is redemption. I don't know what it means. I've never been able to work it out. You get a Pop Art Parallel. It was the Year of the Child, the place of Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, and the Ghost Train. You then get these events that are caused by plotting, not caring for kids, carelessness, living a human life - the way of the world.' - Martin Sharp, 4 March 1984
What do Persian robes of honour, 20th-century still-life painting, fur garments, and 18th-century porcelain all have in common? Prized, possessed and modelled, they highlight the deep connections we share with cultural objects. Establishing new connections between people and things via artistic media and material culture, this highly interdisciplinary volume brings together both established and emerging scholars in the fields of art history, material culture, museum and heritage studies and literary studies to investigate the intersection of the personal with the material. Raising vital questions of cultural identity, belonging and selfhood, Material Selves is the first book of its kind to consider the relationship between people and things across transcultural and transhistorical contexts. It employs innovative methodologies across ten chapters and critically expands on current models for understanding the dynamic relationship between people and things by tracing the central role objects have played in the construction, creation and performance of identity throughout history. Structured around four key sections exploring biography and narrative; adornment and ornament; reclamation and intervention; and subjects and objects, the volume presents a global selection of case studies that explore, amongst other things, Margaret Olley's enduring fame, the significance of the Khil'a in Safavid Persia and early modern Europe, and 17th-century French painter Charles LeBrun's royal portraiture. Fusing these with contemporary theories of identity, the contributors provide analyses informed by posthumanism, the environmental humanities, race and gender. At the same time, they confront vital questions of identity, agency, and materiality, and highlight the way in which we use objects to tell stories, construct myths and make sense of our place in the world. In doing so, the book illuminates a wide range of cultural and chronological settings whilst giving close attention to the mobility of people and things between, across, and through time and place.
Thirty-eight-year-old lawyer Audrey is tired of not being seen. Not seen by her mother, who always preferred her golden brother. By her sleazy boss, who works her to the bone, without reward or recognition. By her self-obsessed colleagues, who want her to help them fix their lives without any acknowledgement of her own. Her social life consists of late nights in the office, visits to her ageing parents, trivia nights with a group of relative strangers, and evenings at home with her pet rabbit Joni. One night, unable to get the attention of the bartender in her local, she walks out without paying for her wine. This small rebellion leads to another, and more. Liberated by her invisibility, Audrey wreaks havoc in the lives of her friends and workmates. Until a painful reminder from the past pushes her into a reckoning, and things really start to spiral out of control.
