Clare Clinton

Donald Hamilton Fraser was the rising star of the 1950s, and subsequently tutor to David Hockney, Patrick Caufield and Ronald Kitaj at the Royal College of Art. This account with a foreword by Peter Blake provides brief biography (12 pages) and an interview with the artist (13 pages). The book concludes with brief tributes from Annela Twitchin and Brendan Neiland, a Chronology, list of Public Collections, Artist's Publications, a Bibliography and an Index to the paintings illustrated.

The book is beautifully illustrated with about 70 full-colour plates, many of them full-page in size with four double-page spreads showing some works in detail. Included are 16 of his ballerina paintings along with numerous landscapes and some his more abstract work. There are also five photographs of the artist and his family, mostly in colour.

The account provides a fairly comprehensive coverage of the artist and cites his many influences, along with more personal matters such his likes in many areas and his attitude to work. One thing I found lacking was the relationship between his paintings and the screen prints, this is not explained either as to why or how, especially as most of the paintings illustrated are caption "silkscreen print".

This is an interesting and very readable account, and the illustrations are splendidly reproduced with vibrant colours, and show the wide range of the artist's oeuvre.… (plus d'informations)