"Tony Bevan: Paintings and Drawings" is the first comprehensive survey of work by the extraordinary British painter Tony Bevan. At times dark, even violent, Bevan's work combines an expressionist mayhem with the ordering principles of the grid and the crystalline form, inviting comparisons to artists as diverse as Francis Bacon, Francesca Goya, F.X. Messerschmidt, Arnulf Rainer, Piero della Francesca and Mikhail Matiushin. Just why this mid-career artist has become such a singular force and influence and fascination within the contemporary British art world is clear from the book's breadth and scope. Although Bevan has remained indifferent to contemporary trends in British art, the work presented here posits such a variety of visual and historical references that there seems to be no question about his place as an artist who will in time be considered a pioneer of British painting. Covering Bevan's work since the early 1980s, this impressive monograph contains an engaging and highly readable text by "Times" critic Richard Cork, as well as a full color chronology of the artist's work, a selected bibliography and exhibition history, and a section of the artist's drawings.
