I finally got my copy of V. V. Barnett’s Partial Sketches:
Picture Partial today. Really fascinating stuff. Big old thing, and second hand
so the binding is on the way out, but there are some amazing things in it; preparatory
sketches for Barnett’s main triumvirate, the Bristol Series and the UtUt
Process from 1973 to 1976.
There’s a good amount of his jazz period as well, when he
would address the page in the Japanese style whilst syncopating his strokes to
live musicians such as Davis Huntington, Eric P Anders and Giles Pallas when
they were in residence at the Down Stroke in Munich and the Penny Penny in
Bremen. Unlike previous editions the quality of the pictures have been improved
so that you can see the characteristic gouges and scrapes which V.V was renowned
for.
Leafing through the numerous prints you can see why Barnett
was called the Pollock of the Pencil when he was in his pomp. It is also clear
that his flirtation with non-figurative art was brief and, from Barnett’s own
notes, failed to satisfy his artistic aspirations. The collection ends with his
famous sketches of the Norwich Warbler which proved to be his most enduring
work and what he is best remembered for today.
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