50 Year Retrospective: Just Scratching the Surface
Cultural History Australian Art Art Monograph Collectibles Printmaking Visual Memoir Artist Retrospective
Leon Pericles—Australia’s beloved printmaker, painter and raconteur—opens his studio doors wide in 50 Year Retrospective: Just Scratching the Surface, a hefty 369-page visual chronicle that doubles as both an art book and a cultural time-capsule. Every spread pairs museum-quality reproductions of his linocuts, etchings and mixed-media works with the stories behind them: the droughts, the dusty outback markets, the political satire and the backyard press that have kept his presses rolling since 1968. Readers see the evolution of an artist who can capture the harsh light of the Nullarbor in one image and the gentle absurdity of small-town life in the next, all while maintaining the hand-hewn texture that makes his prints so collectible.
What makes this soft-cover edition especially attractive to buyers is its balance of authority and accessibility. Curators will appreciate the first-hand dates, edition sizes and exhibition histories; newcomers will enjoy the conversational captions that explain how a single block of lino became a sought-after poster for the Fremantle Festival or a biting cartoon about Canberra politics. Because the book spans five decades, it also charts the rise of Australian printmaking from fringe craft to blue-chip collectible, turning each chapter into a mini-lesson on art market trends and regional identity.
Collectors hunting for a copy that can sit on both the reference shelf and the coffee table will value this particular gently-used volume: clean interior pages, no inscriptions or ex-library markings, binding still tight after six years, only light shelf evidence that it has been leafed through with appreciation rather than abuse. With original shrink-wrapped copies now long out of print and secondary prices climbing, landing a well-preserved copy under the $100 mark represents solid antiquarian upside while the artwork itself remains fresh, funny and unmistakably Pericles.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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