Published to accompany the Western Australian Art Gallery’s first international survey of drawing, Contemporary Drawing is a rather beautiful piece of Australian exhibition history.

It is an attempt, in 1977, to argue for drawing as a serious contemporary practice in its own right rather than merely the preparatory stage before the “real” artwork appeared. Edited by Lou Klepac, the catalogue brings together an international field of artists working across markedly different approaches to the drawn image. The reproductions move from recognisable figuration into abstraction, notation, collage and works that test where drawing ends and other media begin. Among the artists represented are Jean Dubuffet, Frank Auerbach, John Piper, Antoni Tàpies and David Hockney; the survey also included Helen Frankenthaler, whose Grenadine and Bending Blue were reproduced in the catalogue.

The exhibition was significant locally too. Klepac had previously established Perth’s international drawing prize, but shifted toward the survey format because he believed it could assemble stronger work and, through a fully illustrated catalogue, give drawing greater visibility. This was the first such international survey, followed by an Australian survey the next year.

Western Australian Art Gallery / University of Western Australia Press, Perth, 1977. First edition. Large-format illustrated paperback, 108 pp. Light general wear, rubbing and handling marks to pale covers; slight edge wear. Internally clean and sound. Very good condition.