This is the book about Leonard McComb

This is a beautifuly produced book about a recent British artist. The design standards are very high.The typography is sensible and clear; no affectations. And apart from the impressive design the book was printed in the UK- surely something to commend.There is a lot to like about it as a thing to be handled and admired for its good looks and as a frame or container for McComb's works.The illustrations are as good as you will get in quality.Some works are extremely rich in colour and some are more ethereal.The huge delicate watercolours present the most challenge but the reproductions are as good as I have seen.The richly coloured portraits and flower paintings look very handsome.

  If you know of McComb it may be through two of his most substantial works;  the huge drawing of rocks and sea at Anglesey and the sculpture seen on the back cover -Portrait of a Young Man Standing-see above .He worked on this sculpture over 20 years.McComb set himself some huge challenges.He is unusual in his high quality work in two or three dimensions.

The  text of the book contains a useful account of McComb's work by Richard Davey along with reminiscences from friends, a sister, students and sitters.This is all helpful for I don't know of any other book on the artist between this one and the catalogue for the Serpentine Gallery show of 1983 which I  was his breakthrough show.

There is something of the coffee table book about this work.Just a bit. The editing could also have been   better.There are small errors in the spelling of French place names and no,Joyce's Ulysses was published in1922 and not 1920.

You come across points which need amplifying but are not amplified. Thus from a caption we see that a drawing is connected with a tapestry commission for Boots the chemist.But that is the only reference to a tapestry.So one sets off to try and find more information about this work and yes there was a commission for Boots.But that is all I can find on the web. The commission for the quarry in  Utah is given with some details and illustrations which look somewhat un-McComb.If we can have this why not the Boots work -even as just part of a list of commissions  with dates? And were there other commissions?

There isn't as anything like a chronology or any kind of Bibliography .You will not learn about the short lyrical article which Tim Hyman wrote for the London Magazine in 1983.It is a vital item in the literature.

Leonard McComb

Richard Davey

Beam Editions 

2022.