Lines of Thought – Isabel Seligman

Lines of Thought – Isabel Seligman


Isabel Seligman has written a marvellous book on drawing for the British Museum that I started reading while fishing with her parents. It's available at an exhibition of drawings from the British Museum in Poole but will be published at the end of September, when I'll be able to complete my reading.  

'Drawing is the clarification of thought.' – Henri Matisse

'I know of no art that calls for the use of more intelligence than that of drawing. Whether it be a question of conjuring from the whole complex of what is seen, the one pencil stroke that is right, of summarizing a structure, of not letting one’s hand wander, of deciphering and mentally formulating before putting down; or whether the moment be dominated by creation, the controlling idea becoming richer and clearer by what it becomes on the paper and under one’s eyes; every mental faculty finds its function in the task'.  – Paul Valery

'Be bold, have a go and risk your paper' - Samuel Van Hoogsgraten

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Art Gallery of New South Wales

Donald Friend

I have been lucky enough to visit the Art Gallery of New South Wales several times, most notably for the Freida Kahlo exhibition in 2016. I have always been interested in Australian painters since coming across a Sydney Nolan at Mel Watson's house in 1971 and a Donald Friend at Timmie Watson's house in Paddington at the same time (he was also a friend of hers). We even bought a strong Brett Whitely print 'Straight Head of Franny' for Harvestgate and that still hangs in Mosman.

The gallery has interesting examples of Delacroix, Bacon, Lucien Freud and Picasso, as well as the best of the local artists.

Click here for more photos from the gallery.    

The Rat Pack

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Peter Lawford who - with Sammy Davis Jnr and Joey Bishop - comprised The Rat Pack

This photo comes from a website for 'cool' iconic images - the kind that has lots of Humphrey Bogart and Gary Cooper shots - but is possibly one of the images that most defines a whole era of 'cool'.  It's black and white of course, and the men are beautifully dressed and look totally at ease, just swinging along towards the next party. Notable is the absence of Sammy Davis Jnr - but in that era, although he joined them on stage, he wasn't able to socialise with them in public. Joey Bishop was also a member and wrote much of their on-stage material.

There is an excellent film about the Rat Pack on YouTube here 

See Herry's Archives for some details of Peter Lawford's link to the family

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