Author Description

Fifty years of portraits, painted and drawn, are gathered together in Alan Pearson: Expressionist Portraits. Designed by the artist himself, this large format hardback book is visually exciting and unites high quality images with incisive interpretations by the author and other guest writers.The images represented in this book were created in New Zealand, Australia, England, and Italy; gathered from public galleries, private collectors and the artist's collection; the portraits chart the development of Alan Pearson's ever-developing expressionist style, from studying fine arts at Canterbury University in 1957, to his current works in Australia in his 80th year Amongst the penetrating psychological profiles of his other subjects the highly acclaimed selfportraits form a substantial core of the book, charting the artist's progress autobiographically.Alison Pearson, the artist's partner since 1976, focuses on the stories inherent in a portrait, and the arc of the artist's story bound up in each work. An analysis of location, technique and subject is presented in chronological sequence, allowing the narrative to flow naturally.Entwined with the main text are supplements from contributing writers (including Margaret Hudson-Ware and Laurence Fearnley) focusing on the experience of being a portrait subject.Poems by Zoltan Endre and Barry Southam explore their personal reactions to particular portraits and Alan Pearson's own poems reinforce the understanding of mood and character. Others who have had a close association with the artist (eg. Neil Roberts, Tim Garrity, and Richard Wolfe) appraise individual paintings. Short essays by Alan's biographer, Denys Trussell and by T.L. Rodney Wilson describe the artist's modus operandi and place in the art historical canon.Vibrant and readable, this book appeals to all readers, to those interested in contemporary art and in the human condition.