The Primacy of Drawing

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£60.00
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A thoroughly revised edition of this definitive book, the most comprehensive study of drawing ever published

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Drawing has long been central to art making, yet its role has faced increasing scrutiny in recent decades. Admiration for readymades, new technologies and performance has shifted focus away from traditional studies and sketches.

In this new, completely revised edition of The Primacy of Drawing, renowned artist and educator Deanna Petherbridge argues for the centrality of drawing in art and explores its evolving significance, from ancient myths to contemporary practices, examining how artists encode themes such as satire, sexuality and play. Through revealing comparisons of historical and modern works, this richly illustrated resource offers new insights into emergent drawing practices, theories and ideas – redefining how we understand and engage with the medium of drawing today.
Extent: 400 pp
Format: PLC (no jacket)
Illustrations: 253
Publication date: 2026-01-08
Size: 29.5 x 24.5 cm
ISBN: 9780500026083
Preface: Some Thoughts about Tokenism • 1. The Primacy of Line • 2. The Cult of the Sketch • 3. Drawing towards Finish • The Linear Economy • 4. Drawing Strategies • 5. Material Traces • 6. Line as Movement and Touch • 7. Diagrams and Lines of Construction • 8. Virtual Lines and Affective Correspondences • Drawing as Discipline • 9. The Gendered History of Learning to Draw • 10. Bodies in Pieces: Drawing and Anatomical Manuals • 11. The Complex Contradictions of Copying • Drawing the Self • 12. Drawing the Drawer • 13. The Drawer as Embodied Observer of the Natural World • 14. Drawing the Studio: Power and Legitimation • Drawing the Other • 15. Charged Lines and Homely Bodies • 16. Drawing Death and Desire • 17. War Migration and Global Warming

Press Reviews

Wholly redefines what the study of drawing means in the 21st century
Tim Wilcox, Apollo

With its wealth of superb reproductions and deep, wide vision of art history, The Primacy of Drawing stands as a unique resource
Julian Bell, Times Literary Supplement

Petherbridge's study should convince anyone of drawing's centrality, its often apparent simplicity and also its deep mysteriousness
Adrian Searle, Guardian


About the Author

Deanna Petherbridge (1939–2024) was a writer, artist, curator and former Professor of Drawing at the Royal College of Art, London, where she launched the Centre for Drawing Research and established the UK’s first doctoral programme in drawing. She was appointed a CBE for services to drawing and teaching in 1996, awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Art in 1997 and appointed an Honorary Fellow of the Warburg Institute in 2019.

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