Artwork

by Peter Campbell, Bill Manhire (Foreword), Jeremy Harding (Introduction)

Peter Campbell was the resident designer and art critic for the London Review of Books. He worked for the magazine from its first appearance in 1979 and wrote more than 300 pieces, mainly about art but also about such things as escalators, weeds, bicycles, bridges and hearts. Each fortnight from 1996 onwards, Peter created a cover illustration for the LRB, coming up with a seemingly infinite array of unpredictable images: a yacht and a starfish, a tram, two knickerbocker glories, a game of dominoes, a man walking past a lighted window at night. The immediate freshness, colour, playfulness and surprise of these covers belied their technical skill, erudition and command of detail and artistic reference. Peter Campbell designed and edited BBC books by Kenneth Clark, Jacob Bronowski and David Attenborough. He worked often with Quentin Blake and wrote the introduction to Blake's The Life of Birds. He worked, too, on several books by his fellow LRB contributor Alan Bennett. He described the LRB job as perfect for him and his 'absurd good fortune'. It allowed his talent and years of expertise to come together. Artwork is a collection of Peter's finest works over the years.

Genres: Art

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 25, 2012

Reviews

[Paul Secor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peter Campbell is best known for his London Review of Books covers, which he created from the the LRB's inception until his death in 2011. He painted and drew more than 400 covers for the LRB. Many of his covers were true artistic creations, as he was a fine artist. In his artwork, he drew on commonplace subjects but, in his hands, they were never common.
I'll send you to Peter Campbell's website to view some of his works: http://petercampbell.org.uk/

In the meantime, I'll try and describe some of my favorites. (I'm technologically challenged and find it difficult to post images on Goodreads.)

A glum headwaiter standing in the midst of an empty (perhaps not yet opened) restaurant.

A woman waiting for a train with three bags, a wide-brimmed hat, and a soccer ball at her feet.

A dapper gent - overcoat, fedora, and umbrella - gazing at two male mannequins wearing dressing gowns - red and green - in a department store window.

A simple but elegant red dress hanging alone on what appears to be a moveable store rack.

Two women walking in what appears to be a heavy rain. The women are wearing raincoats and rain hats, one yellow and one light blue. (Peter Campbell was a fine colorist.)

Clever and amusing drawings for invitations to subscribe to the LRB. I can't imagine folks being able to resist these.

The last painting I'll mention is the cover for one of his own books, Harry's Bee, which makes me want to read it, should I ever come across a copy.

As I've said, Peter Campbell's subjects and situations might have been everyday but, drawn by him, they were never mundane. Please check out the website listed above to see his artwork. My poor descriptions don't do his work justice.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful book. Containing many examples of Peter Campbell's London Review of Books covers. Only fourteen pages of text, including a Forward by Bill Manhire, and an Introduction by Jeremy Harding, the book is mostly images of Campbell's artwork, including watercolours, whimsical loose pen and ink drawings.