A sensitive account of John Wonnacott's career written by a leading figure within the art world
Written with the full support of the artist, who has worked closely with Charles Saumarez Smith
In this first major study of the work of the painter John Wonnacott (b.1940), Charles Saumarez Smith has surveyed a body of work produced at a tangent to the orthodoxies of modernism. Exploring the artist's formative experiences at the Slade, which connected him with artists such as Frank Auerbach and Michael Andrews and the School of London more broadly, Saumarez Smith roots Wonnacott's approach in his commitment to the discipline of drawing, his acute skills in observational analysis and the mechanics of graphic invention that makes his visual response to the world so memorable.
Alongside ... Read More
A sensitive account of John Wonnacott's career written by a leading figure within the art world
Written with the full support of the artist, who has worked closely with Charles Saumarez Smith
In this first major study of the work of the painter John Wonnacott (b.1940), Charles Saumarez Smith has surveyed a body of work produced at a tangent to the orthodoxies of modernism. Exploring the artist's formative experiences at the Slade, which connected him with artists such as Frank Auerbach and Michael Andrews and the School of London more broadly, Saumarez Smith roots Wonnacott's approach in his commitment to the discipline of drawing, his acute skills in observational analysis and the mechanics of graphic invention that makes his visual response to the world so memorable.
Alongside ... Read More
In this first major study of the work of the painter John Wonnacott (b.1940), Charles Saumarez Smith has surveyed a body of work produced at a tangent to the orthodoxies of modernism. Exploring the artist's formative experiences at the Slade, which connected him with artists such as Frank Auerbach and Michael Andrews and the School of London more broadly, Saumarez Smith roots Wonnacott's approach in his commitment to the discipline of drawing, his acute skills in observational analysis and the mechanics of graphic invention that makes his visual response to the world so memorable.
Alongside commissioned portraits created in the grandest of architectural spaces, from naval bases to the Painted Hall at Greenwich and including John Major in 10 Downing Street and the Royal Family in Buckingham Palace, he has produced a revealing diary of self-portraits stretching back from his early teens and landscape paintings of light and sky which are celebrations of his native Essex coastline. In presenting the full range of Wonnacott's impressive oeuvre, the scope of the artist's remarkable achievement is revealed.
Details
Pages: 136
Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Publication Date: 5th September 2022
Trim Size: 15.6 x 23.4 cm
Illustration Note: Includes 63 colour illustrations
ISBN: 9781848225916
Author Bio
Charles Saumarez Smith is a freelance writer, curator and art historian. He has served as Director at the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery and as Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts. He is currently Professor of Architectural History at the Royal Academy of Arts, Chairman of The Royal Drawing School and The Watercolour World, a Trustee of the Garden Museum, and Emeritus Trustee of ArtUK and Charleston.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Chapter 1: Early Life; Chapter 2: The School of London; Chapter 3: The Family; Chapter 4: Chalkwell; Chapter 5: Teaching; Chapter 6: Dealers; Chapter 7: John Major; Chapter 8: The Landscape of Essex; Chapter 9: The Royal Family; Chapter 10: Self-portraits and Friends; Chapter 11: Late Works; Chapter 12: Critical Reflections; Acknowledgements; Index
Video
John Wonnacott in conversation with Charles Saumarez Smith - YouTube
In this first major study of the work of the painter John Wonnacott (b.1940), Charles Saumarez Smith has surveyed a body of work produced at a tangent to the orthodoxies of modernism. Exploring the artist's formative experiences at the Slade, which connected him with artists such as Frank Auerbach and Michael Andrews and the School of London more broadly, Saumarez Smith roots Wonnacott's approach in his commitment to the discipline of drawing, his acute skills in observational analysis and the mechanics of graphic invention that makes his visual response to the world so memorable.
Alongside commissioned portraits created in the grandest of architectural spaces, from naval bases to the Painted Hall at Greenwich and including John Major in 10 Downing Street and the Royal Family in Buckingham Palace, he has produced a revealing diary of self-portraits stretching back from his early teens and landscape paintings of light and sky which are celebrations of his native Essex coastline. In presenting the full range of Wonnacott's impressive oeuvre, the scope of the artist's remarkable achievement is revealed.
Pages: 136
Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd
Publication Date: 5th September 2022
Trim Size: 15.6 x 23.4 cm
Illustrations Note: Includes 63 colour illustrations
ISBN: 9781848225916
Charles Saumarez Smith is a freelance writer, curator and art historian. He has served as Director at the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery and as Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts. He is currently Professor of Architectural History at the Royal Academy of Arts, Chairman of The Royal Drawing School and The Watercolour World, a Trustee of the Garden Museum, and Emeritus Trustee of ArtUK and Charleston.
Introduction; Chapter 1: Early Life; Chapter 2: The School of London; Chapter 3: The Family; Chapter 4: Chalkwell; Chapter 5: Teaching; Chapter 6: Dealers; Chapter 7: John Major; Chapter 8: The Landscape of Essex; Chapter 9: The Royal Family; Chapter 10: Self-portraits and Friends; Chapter 11: Late Works; Chapter 12: Critical Reflections; Acknowledgements; Index
John Wonnacott in conversation with Charles Saumarez Smith - YouTube
