A new book John Craxton: A Modern Odyssey has been published to celebrate exhibitions at Pallant House Gallery and Chichester Cathedral – with contributions from David Attenborough, Ian Collins, Tacita Dean, David Mellor, Simon Martin, Miriam O’Connor Perks, Hilary Spurling and Edmund White. The beautifully illustrated volume is available in the gallery and bookshops at £30.
144 pages with 110 illustrations.
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Uplifting and engaging, this story recounts the life and career of a rebellious 20th-century British artist
Born into a large, musical, and bohemian family in London, the British artist John Craxton (1922–2009) has been described as a Neo-Romantic, but he called himself a “kind of Arcadian”. His early art was influenced by Blake, Palmer, Miró, and Picasso. After achieving a dream of moving to Greece, his work evolved as a personal response to Byzantine mosaics, El Greco, and the art of Greek life. This book tells his adventurous story for the first time. At turns exciting, funny, and poignant, the saga is enlivened by Craxton’s ebullient pictures. Ian Collins expands our understanding of the artist greatly—including an in-depth exploration of the storied, complicated friendship between Craxton and Lucian Freud, drawing on letters and memories that Craxton wanted to remain private until after his death.
The catalogue to accompany an exhibition first held in Cyprus at the A G Leventis Gallery in 2017 which then moved to the Benaki Museum in Athens. The exhibition ran at the British Museum from March to July 2018.
John Sandoe Bookshop in London sells the book for £45. It can also be ordered from the AG Leventis Gallery in Cyprus for 30 euros plus postage.
Fully illustrated catalogue for the 2021 Osborne Samuel exhibition John Craxton: Drawn from Darkness – Paintings and Drawings 1940-1946 are still available from the gallery in London for £15 plus postage.
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This is the first full-scale monograph on John Craxton (1922-2009), a key figure in post-war painting who authorised this publication shortly before his death.
Ian Collins’s engaging text is informed by his many conversations with the artist, who was also a celebrated wit and story-teller, and is supported by more than 200 reproductions of life-affirming paintings and drawings.
The monograph has an introduction by Sir David Attenborough, who was a friend of John Craxton and spoke at his memorial service. Sir David also presented a profile of the artist for BBC2’s The Culture Show, directed by Matthew Thomas, in 2011.
Published by Lund Humphries in 2011, and reprinted in 2013, this book is now out of print. Second-hand copies sell for over £100.
Elusive, enigmatic and beautiful, Joan Leigh Fermor (1912-2003) was a close friend of John Craxton and also one of the finest photographers of her time.
This book is currently out of print but a second edition is being planned.