OLD SCHOOL PRESS. SUTCLIFFE, John. ~ Lost Colours of the Cyclades.
One of 135 copies. Printed in monotype Perpetua. 6 linocuts by John Stucliffe plus tipped in colour samples. Pp.81. Togther with a portfolio with 20 large handpainted cards illustrating the representative colours together with a swatch card with colour chips of each. 4to., full silkscreened blue and white cloth, both volumes in a blue cloth chemise with a printed spine label.
In his capacity as a decorative artist, John has done a great deal of work in the Cyclades, in particular on the small island of Schinoussa. One of the outcomes of this has been a growing fascination with what happened to colour on the buildings of Greece and the islands in particular. Why are so many buildings today white? Has that always been the fashion there? White is what we tourists expect, but is that white authentic for the Cycladic islands in particular? John has researched the answers to these questions, visiting the islands and examining the walls of older buildings, looking for traces of the ‘lost colours’ and their history. An enthusiastic cook, he has also taken the opportunity to sample – and weave into his researches – the cuisine of the Greek islands. Parallels emerge between colour and food, driven largely by the same external forces.