Simon Pierse ‘Keith Vaughan: Figure & Ground - Some Personal Reflections.’
From the Library
of Dr Simon Pierse.
Room & Book is pleased to offer for sale a collection of rare books and catalogues from the collection of artist and art historian, Dr Simon Pierse, author of a forthcoming biography of the Australian art dealer Alannah Coleman (1918–1998).
Room & Book is pleased to offer for sale a collection of books and exhibition catalogues from the library of the artist and art historian, Dr Simon Pierse MA PhD RWS Hon. RWI. Simon Pierse was born in London and studied at the Slade School of Fine Art. Originally trained as a painter, after graduation he held his first exhibition at Opix Gallery, London when his figure compositions were compared to the work of British painter Keith Vaughan (1912-1977). Simon became interested in Australian art whilst artist in residence at Melbourne Grammar School in 1992-3. He returned to Melbourne on an Australian Bicentennial Fellowship in 2000-1 and further research visits followed. In 2014 he was visiting fellow at the University of Melbourne's Australian Institute of Art History. Simon taught at Aberystwyth University 1992-2016 and is currently Emeritus Senior Lecturer. In 2003, he organised an exhibition of Sidney Nolan's paintings, selected by Lady Nolan, at the School of Art, Aberystwyth University, followed, in 2009, by an exhibition of recent work by Klaus Friedeberger (1922-2019).
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In 2013, Simon contributed a catalogue essay on Keith Vaughan's pre-war photographs for the exhibition Keith Vaughan Figure and Ground, held in Cardiff at the National Museum, Wales. Simon's books include Australian Art and Artists in London 1950-65, an Antipodean Summer, published by Ashgate in 2012. He has recently finished a biography on Australian curator and art dealer Alannah Coleman (1918-1998) which is due to be published by Australian Scholarly Publishing next year.
The collection of 30 items covers some of the most significant events in the development of British and Australian art in the Post-war period. It includes scarce catalogues of important Whitechapel Gallery exhibitions curated by Bryan Robertson; rare catalogues produced by The Commonwealth Institute and the New Vision Centre Gallery in London; 1950s and 1960s catalogues published by the Zwemmer Gallery and Grabowski Gallery; and a fine copy of the catalogue of the British presentation at the 1960 Venice Biennale. Also included are a number of very good and near fine examples of hard to find Keith Vaughan books and catalogues including that of Bryan Robertson’s Vaughan retrospective exhibition held at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1962 and Keith Vaughan: Figure and Ground published in 2013.
The Australian section of the collection offers an opportunity to acquire some of the rarest catalogues of early exhibitions of modern Australian art in London, including Sidney Nolan’s first London group show at the Redfern Gallery in 1951; Roy de Maistre’s 1960 Whitechapel retrospective; and Twelve Australian Artists one the first major touring exhibitions outside Australia dedicated solely to contemporary Australian art shown at the New Burlington Galleries and other venues in 1953.For further information and images please email rob@roomandbook.co.uk xt goes here
