Another of Life's 'Little Essentials'...

Presenting the latest absolutely must-have purchase (purely for research purposes, of course), Deanna Petherbridge's substantial volume 'The Primacy of Drawing', which initially came to attention via this article by Adrian Searle in The Guardian on the subject of a recent exhibition devoted to drawing.


Subtitled 'Histories and Theories of Practice', this most attractive book presents a trans-historical survey of predominantly Western drawing as both a discrete area of artistic endeavour & as inextricably linked to other forms of visual art & design, lavishly illustrated with examples of many of the masters & also rehabilitating some of those artists whom time might have forgotten or come to disregard.

The volume appears, upon browsing, a fascinating history of ideas (drawing often being the initial (re)presentation of, of course) & practical developments from the Renaissance to contemporary concerns, with its chapters featuring many an intriguing sub-heading, & seems destined, once engaged with seriously, to become a compelling & thought-provoking companion to one's personal drawing process.