Jonathan Parker: Familiarity and Mystery

by Andrew M Beresford

ISBN: 9781527208032
2017, Durham University, 79pp

Jonathan Parker: Familiarity and Mystery offers an introduction to the works of Jonathan Parker, one of the leading contemporary British artists of the last 20 years. The book begins with a discussion of the artist and his works, focusing on questions of approach and technique. The first major section discusses the thirteen paintings of the Wallington Series, exploring the decision of Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan (the artist’s grandfather) to renounce his birthright and donate the Wallington estate to the National Trust. The second major section analyses Parker’s approach to portraiture, discussing on the treatment of family members, the Henley Regatta, and the Principals of Trevelyan College. The book concludes with an insight into Parker’s future trajectory, focusing in particular on his imaginative recontextualizations of the works of the Spanish artist, Francisco de Zurbarán.