Peter Kingston

A versatile, multi-talented artist, with a natural ability for drawing, Peter Kingston (b. 1943) was inspired from an early age by films and comics to create quirky cartoons and illustrations, later contributing to the infamous Oz magazine of the 1960s, and becoming part of Martin Sharp's Yellow House collective in Potts Point, where he would also experiment with filmmaking. Around this time Kingston met and established a lasting and inspiring friendship with Brett Whiteley, became his neighbour in Lavender Bay – not far from another of Kingston's beloved Sydney Harbour icons, Luna Park. From his new vantage point of the harbour, Kingston would go on to create some of his most impressive works such as Passing Ferries 1999 and Sacred House 10 2018.

For many years Peter Kingston was best known for his illustrations, but he has also created a substantial body of work as draughtsman and painter. His passion has been to document the great energy and character of Sydney Harbour, its moods and movement, the perpetual ebb and flow of the ferries, the human activity, and that great symbol of Sydney, the Opera House. 'I have spent countless nights watching the moon reflect upon the water and the shadow of this great building creating colours and unique impressions each passing day.' These subjects have become increasingly important to Kingston during the last two decades, when he has devoted himself more fully to painting and drawing. This period is the focus of the book.

Extensively illustrated with more than 200 plates and illustrations, Peter Kingston: Paintings and Drawings contains illuminating text written and compiled by Barry Pearce, and includes autobiographical material by the artist, and pages from the artist's sketchbooks.

About the Author

Barry Pearce was born in 1944 and educated in Adelaide. He began his art museum career as an Education Officer at the Art Gallery of South Australia in 1967 before taking up a Harold Wright Scholarship at the British Museum Print Room in London 1971-72. Upon return to Australia in 1975 he was appointed inaugural Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Aty Gallery of South Australia; Curator of Paintings, Art Gallery of Western Australia in 1977; and in 1978 Curator of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, where he remained until retirement as Head Curator in 2011, endowed as the inaugural Emeritus Curator of Australian Art.