The Art of Radio Times - FIRST PRINTING

London: BBC, 1981, 1981 Cloth. First Edition, First Impression. 13"x10". Lavish and utterly fascinating survey of British illustration from 1923. Colour and black and white; interviews with artists; social background by Asa Briggs; the book accompanied the exhibition at the V&A museum, London, which then toured. A very fine copy of a fascinating book. The lasting value of this superbly produced book is in the extremely high standard of the artists who work in the 'commercial art' world. It gets ignored by the Brit Art Establishment, for instance. There is work in these pages that should be in our National Collections. Perhaps there is a curator out there in the Arts Council world who can peep from behind their Artspeak dogma blinkers at what they have always ignored. Every page contains work that makes the Emins and Chapmans et al look totally daft, and reveals an intelligence that is wholly lacking among the smoke filled rooms, the galleries with a light that flashes on and off, and others that proudly display a glass of water twelve feet up a gallery wall, and ask £12000 for it. But these noisy bad tempered so-called 'artists' get away with their loutish behaviour; and are - alas - the ones who get our money through the Arts Council. This intelligent book is a kind of antidote to the ludicrous stunt masters who fill our galleries with nonsense. A huge amount of talent, skill and imagination are revealed on every page. Wit, culture, and true conceptual skills illuminate this truly worthwhile book. Long out of print, this is an essential work for anyone interested in art history. 0.0 0.0 0.0. 1st Edition.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine.