Transient Appearances

This book explores the art of drawing as practiced in England from the 17th to the late 19th centuries. Using a selection of just over 90 works on paper from one of the world’s most important private collections, the study examines the careers of artists as diverse as Alexander Cozens, Richard Wilson, John Constable, JMW Turner and Aubrey Beardsley. It considers the purpose for which each drawing was made, details its history and reproduces comparative works. Sometimes the artist behind the drawing emerges as a commanding presence, applying complex layers of transparent colours that are blotted, dabbed with fingers and thumbs or scraped with knives; sometimes it is apparent that the artist was only in contact with the paper for a matter of minutes. In a number of instances newly discovered documents and records are used to illuminate a well-known work, but the selection includes many drawings that have never been seen in public or published, and even one artist whose identity remains a mystery. There are grand exhibition watercolours and humble sketchbook pages. What unifies the collection, and the book, is the fact that the drawings are the choice of a single collector with an unusually focused eye.

ISBN TBC. Hardcover. 432 pp, 200 colour illustrations. 22 x 29 cm/8.5 x 11 in. Date of publication TBC.