John Perceval

Attractively illustrated book which explores the life and career of this renowned Australian artist from the 1920s to the present. Contains a catalogue raisonn}}, list of principal exhibitions, summary of biographical details and an extensive bibliography are included. The hardback is a limited edition.

Perceval, John

Allen, Traudi

Melbourne University

With his undeniable precociousness, John Perceval came to the attention of the art cognoscenti in his early teens. His elegant charm, astonishing good looks and original intelligence captivated many of the most important art figures of his time—Norman Lindsay, John and Sunday Reed, the Boyd family, Bernard Smith, Max Harris, John Brack, Charles Blackman and Clifton Pugh—providing him entrée to a wider social circle that included Germaine Greer, Barry Humphries and Tim Burstall. In this fully revised and updated analysis of his art in the context of his life, Traudi Allen shows how, despite having been positioned as the younger follower of Arthur Boyd, Albert Tucker and Fred Williams, he was, in fact, sometimes the mentor. The full complexity of his work and his personality is rigorously and engagingly analysed here, in a story that is as sweet and fascinating as it is tragic.

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Melbourne University Press

This timely and intelligent discussion focuses on the elusive nature of Australian nationalism as it is defined by visual images drawn from a vast variety of sources - some surprising and others regularly encountered in our daily lives. From high art to popular kitsch, the more than 100 plates support the author's feisty arguments which range from domestic issues related to the great Australian dream of suburban home ownership to the plight of those who have experienced difficulties in making a home here. As Allen declares, 'The nationalist discourse is a multifarious and contradictory matter', with many pitfalls, ambiguous stereotypes and questionable myth-ologies. This densely detailed text is essential reading for all who wish to better understand Australia's complex contemporary culture.

Homesickness: Nationalism in Australian Visual Culture

Macmillan Art Publishing

In 1982 a group of art students, still in their teens and early twenties, decided to take matters into their own hands. Rather than pit themselves against the conventions of an established system and lose, they challenged it by rejecting its means and methods. Losing to them meant waiting for the appropriate twenty years or so until their work was sufficiently 'mature' to be taken up by the art market. The group's rationale was to establish its own artist-run gallery in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Membership was called for to provide funds for basic costs and shows were open to almost all comers, especially young artists and children, women and Aborigines who were generally regarded as marginal to the mainstream system. Relatively quickly, gallery directors approached Roar members, who one-by-one were recruited into their stables. The original Roar group had consisted of about twenty would-be artists among whom Mark Schaller, Sarah Faulkner, Peter Ferguson, David Larwill, Jill Noble, Judi Singleton, Stephen McCarthy, Andrew Ferguson, Wayne Eager, Pasquale Giardino, Mark Howson, Karan Hayman, Ann Howie, Mike Nicholls and Richard Birmingham have become best known. The Roar name, coined to make the system stop and take notice, involved a stylistic pun. The work produced was raw with youth and energy. It was generally figurative, linking it less with its time than with other, earlier Australian groups and European movements.

Roar!: And Quieter Moments from a Group of Melbourne Artists 1980-1993

Craftsman House

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Books by Allen, Traudi

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Allen, Traudi. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

John Perceval

John Perceval

Homesickness: Nationalism in Australian Visual Culture

Roar!: And Quieter Moments from a Group of Melbourne Artists 1980-1993