John Olsen. Drawing – the human touch

With an interview by Ken McGregor. Melbourne : Macmillan, 2014. Quarto, laminated boards, pp. 352, extensively illustrated. Out of print, an as-new copy.

This richly illustrated publication represents the author’s attempt to locate as many of John Olsen’s drawings as possible and Macmillan’s determination to reproduce them in a book which will serve as a companion to our previous monographs on the artist’s prints and paintings. Olsen is an artist who believes drawing to be the fundamental skill of artistic production and whose artworks, whether paintings, prints or drawings, indicate a keen sense of observation of human and animal behaviour translated into lively and sometimes humorous compositions dependent on the drawn line. He is a living legend on the Australian art scene, who claims: “Drawing is important in every stage of an artist’s career. Drawing is the plank on which you build the architecture of your work. Drawing is a transferable energy, a life-force, and it entails many ways of observing…” This book will inform and amuse as it reiterates the importance of drawing.