Every page of this intimate sketchbook revels in the bright colors and spacious vistas of the Greek islands
Every page of this delightful little book—meticulously reproduced from the sketchbooks that the British artist Anne Desmet (born 1964) has used since her first travels to Greece in the 1980s—is soaked in Mediterranean sunshine. Desmet specializes in wood engravings, linocuts and mixed-media collages, but she also maintains an active drawing practice, at home and on holiday. Desmet’s drawings in this volume show the daily life at her Greek destinations and the bobbing fishing boats, shady streets and bright blue seas that make the Greek landscape so recognizable.
Desmet commits every detail to paper, and the book’s intimate, small-scale format emphasizes her distinctive flair for capturing the relationship between extreme foreground and distance. Colorful and atmospheric sketches in pen, wash and watercolor conjure up the unique feel of the Sporades. Desmet notes the locations of each sketch, allowing the reader to follow her from island to island across the Aegean Sea in an intimate travelogue.
This gem of a book follows the artist’s bestselling sketchbook, An Italian Journey. Like that volume, Anne Desmet: A Greek Journey offers something truly special—a glorious tour of the Greek islands through the eyes of a meticulous and precise artist.
Featured image is reproduced from 'Anne Desmet: A Greek Journey.'
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Featured spread, captioned "27/8/18, Skiathos, morning thunder coming. Slightly down the hill from Agios Nikolaos," is reproduced from A Greek Journey, the Royal Academy’s charming sketchbook-like collection of Anne Desmet’s watercolor drawings made during three Greek summers spanning thirty-four years. The first series was made when Desmet was an art student, in 1984, traveling the Northern Sporades and Aegean Sea with a friend, her uncle and her brother. The second was made in 1985, while traveling with her mother and brother on Alonissos. “One balmy night found us, with my uncle and Greek fishermen friends, on the uninhabited island of Pelagos eating barbequed octopus on the seashore beneath the shining Milky Way and a myriad shooting stars,” she writes. The final series was made in 2018, while traveling with her husband and young children. “The cheerily painted wooden caïques were long gone—replaced by sleek tourist yachts and cruisers—the streets were crowded, whitewashed buildings more numerous. But the landscape and its dazzling colors were unchanged and evoked nostalgic memories. Thus the thirteenth anniversary of my wonderful uncle’s death saw us drinking a toast to his memory from a bar in Patitiri harbor, which seemed to bring my Greek journey full circle.” continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 6 x 4 in. / 112 pgs / 80 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $14.95 LIST PRICE: CANADA $19.95 ISBN: 9781912520237 PUBLISHER: Royal Academy of Arts AVAILABLE: 9/17/2019 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA ONLY
Published by Royal Academy of Arts. Text by Anne Desmet.
Every page of this intimate sketchbook revels in the bright colors and spacious vistas of the Greek islands
Every page of this delightful little book—meticulously reproduced from the sketchbooks that the British artist Anne Desmet (born 1964) has used since her first travels to Greece in the 1980s—is soaked in Mediterranean sunshine. Desmet specializes in wood engravings, linocuts and mixed-media collages, but she also maintains an active drawing practice, at home and on holiday. Desmet’s drawings in this volume show the daily life at her Greek destinations and the bobbing fishing boats, shady streets and bright blue seas that make the Greek landscape so recognizable.
Desmet commits every detail to paper, and the book’s intimate, small-scale format emphasizes her distinctive flair for capturing the relationship between extreme foreground and distance. Colorful and atmospheric sketches in pen, wash and watercolor conjure up the unique feel of the Sporades. Desmet notes the locations of each sketch, allowing the reader to follow her from island to island across the Aegean Sea in an intimate travelogue.
This gem of a book follows the artist’s bestselling sketchbook, An Italian Journey. Like that volume, Anne Desmet: A Greek Journey offers something truly special—a glorious tour of the Greek islands through the eyes of a meticulous and precise artist.
