The Art of Grahame King

Book excerpt: Grahame Kings life as an artist began with his mastery of the new art of colour reproduction as a photolithographic colour etcher in Melbourne in the 1930s. At the same time, study at the National Gallery Art School with George Bell assisted his development as a painter. After war service and travels abroad, King returned to Melbourne with his wife, the sculptor Inge King. The two held a number of joint exhibitions of paintings and sculptures in Australia throughout the 1950s and then, from c.1962 Grahame King turned his attention, increasingly, towards the art of lithography becoming a master in this field of printmaking. He has also devoted himself to promoting the art of lithography and printmaking generally through the Print Council of Australia. He is often called Australias patron saint of printmaking. The book examines his seven decades working as an artist in Melbourne and is lavishly illustrated with colour reproductions throughout.