{"title":"Books by Andrew Lambirth","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780500028049","title":"Craxton's Cats","description":"A superbly illustrated account of one of the major figures of modern British painting's passion for cats, written with personal knowledge of the artist. By concentrating on a single subject very dear to John Craxton's heart—cats—this volume offers an accessible introduction to this popular artist, who has been championed by David Attenborough and Andrew Marr, among many others. Craxton's significance as an early artist companion of Lucian Freud, his time in Greece, and his collaborations with Patrick Leigh Fermor have generated growing interest in his art.For Craxton, cats were an index of moods and states of mind, and a splendidly apposite vehicle for his visual and verbal wit. Craxton loved cats and lived with them for most of his life. The cat image came readily to mind and hand, whether he was planning a taverna scene in Crete or doodling during a telephone conversation. Cats permeate his art, weaving their way through his paintings, drawings, and prints, bringing humor and mischief to his images, as they did to his daily existence. Affectionate and faithless, they were like so many casual lovers, no better than they should be and gloriously on the make. In many ways, they are a fitting symbol or leitmotif for Craxton's own happy-go-lucky life.A widely accessible introduction to Craxton's work, this delightful book will appeal to the devotee and the uninitiated alike.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44581658951858,"sku":"9780500028049","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780500028049_272b8a62-75ba-4390-ad4d-15f6334163b0.jpg?v=1786013671"},{"product_id":"9781913645076","title":"Diana Armfield – A Lyrical Eye","description":"Diana Armfield RA Hon RWS NEAC has a highly personal attachment to subject and a subtly distinctive affinity with the rhythms of form and tone. These qualities make her an important, influential figure in modern British art - and a very popular one. Flower paintings have brought her wide acclaim, but this book - created to mark her 100th birthday - also richly represents Diana's feeling for landscape and place. Including an inspiring number of more recent works, it brings her fascinating artistic and life story up to date.   'I think I was born making things', Diana comments to Andrew Lambirth, whose absorbing interview with her forms the narrative thread of Diana Armfi eld: A Lyrical Eye. Diana's was a creative childhood steeped in experiments with drawing, pottery and embroidery, played out against the backdrop of a picture-fi lled house, a lovely garden and an artistic family. She studied at Bournemouth, Slade and Central art schools, starting out as a talented textile designer - a legacy that lent her a unique approach to the geometry, cadences and colour qualities of a painting. After organising cultural activities for workers and troops in World War II, Diana became one half of a successful partnership designing textiles and wallpaper, whose work featured in the Festival of Britain in 1951. The 1960s brought a turn to painting and from 1966 Diana has been a regular exhibitor at the prestigious Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. She has continued to paint and draw throughout her life and, as this book clearly demonstrates, always thinks afresh about each subject she tackles in order to respond to it with a close,warm sincerity.   Diana Armfi eld: A Lyrical Eye charts Diana's personal and artistic journey with over 200 beautiful reproductions of her work, tracing favourite subjects and events - from a Welsh landscape to an informal fl ower display or the much-loved location of a painting trip in Italy or France. Andrew Lambirth's interview also explores the unique bond with her husband, painter Bernard Dunstan, who died in 2017, looking at how two leading artists interwove their personal and creative lives over a marriage of almost 70 years. As well as this interview, Andrew has contributed an essay on Diana's work to the book. Diana's standing and popularity have led to regular exhibitions, especially at prominent London gallery Browse\u0026amp; Darby. Her work is held in private and public collections worldwide, from London's V\u0026amp;Ato the Yale Center for British Art.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56308766409077,"sku":"9781913645076","price":37.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}]},{"product_id":"9781911408727","title":"Francis Davison","description":"This is an update and review of the first major study of the life and art of London-born painter and collagist Francis Davison (1919–1984). After reading English and Anthropology at Cambridge, he wrote poetry, and took up drawing in 1946. On marriage to artist Margaret Mellis in 1948, the couple settled in Suffolk where they ran a smallholding at Syleham before moving to Southwold. By the early 1950s Davison’s paintings had become simplified shapes and it was not long before he ceased painting in favour of working in collage. Over the next 20 years reference to landscape disappeared and the colour range was extended. Davison relied entirely on found, used and unpainted papers, which were cut and fitted with great exactitude. By the end of his life he had developed a method of tearing paper that gave him complete mastery over his material. A very private man, Davison shunned publicity and insisted that only the most basic information should accompany the showing of his work. Reflecting this, he never received the recognition his work deserved, and there was only one substantial exhibition during his lifetime – at the Hayward Gallery in 1983 – but critical attention has grown since his death in the mid-1980s. Davison’s work was greatly admired by many of his contemporaries, most notably Patrick Heron and Roger Hilton. He is now seen as a major abstract collagist, with exhibitions at many public and commercial galleries. His work is held in the Arts Council collection.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56309041594741,"sku":"9781911408727","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781911408727_c2578bd9-a37e-4113-8ef5-3d5bbf5ebbe8.jpg?v=1786029678"},{"product_id":"9781848221727","title":"The Art of Richard Eurich","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis is the first book to present a comprehensive overview of the entire career of British artist Richard Eurich (1903-1992), a figurative painter of compelling power and often visionary intensity who brought rare imaginative reserves to his depiction of the world around him, as well as to his apprehension of the mysterious and unseen. Eurich was a private man, not given to self-promotion, and as such has not received the widespread attention he deserves. \u003ci\u003eThe Art of Richard Eurich\u003c\/i\u003e locates the artist within the context of 20th-century British art, demonstrating his relevance in all quarters of the art world of the period. Eurich was a draughtsman, landscape painter, teacher, war artist, autobiographer, marine painter extraordinaire, portrait painter, figure painter, satirist, genre painter, visual poet of the beach, and occasional sculptor. His many creative talents are united in this compelling analysis of the man who was responsible for them. Featuring a wide selection of his artworks, from the topographical to the visionary, from the drawn to the painted, this book unspools the narrative of Eurich's life through expertly selected paintings and drawings, and places him in relation to his fellow artists, friends, and contemporaries.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56313066389877,"sku":"9781848221727","price":49.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781848221727_58f0219f-1fd6-4d1a-91d5-1929694eb75c.jpg?v=1786029733"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-andrew-lambirth.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}