The rudiments of Paradise: Various essays on various arts

by Michael Ayrton

The title of this collection of essays is taken from Robert South, who wrote in the 17th century that “Aristotle is but a fragment of Adam and Athens but the Rudiments of Paradise”. Michael Ayrton, the distinguished painter and sculptor, sees all the works of Art that remain to us – from antiquity to the present day – to be the Rudiments of Paradise and their creators to be Fragments of Adam. In this book he celebrates those rudiments and fragments that mean most to him. How does an artist view another artist’s work? What questions does he ask of it? How do works of art and the men who have created them haunt or inspire him? How does the artist relate to his predecessors, to his own environment, to his subject, and to his media? Michael Ayrton writes of these things as sculptor, painter, and draftsman. He writes as one who, involved with the past, seeks to create his own art from the recognition of this heritage and its relevance to our own time. While chiefly important as a painter and sculptor, Michael Ayrton has also worked as theatrical designer, book illustrator, and author.

319 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1971

About the author

Michael Ayrton, was an English artist and writer, known as a painter, printmaker, sculptor and designer, and also as a critic, broadcaster and novelist. He was a stage and costume designer, working with John Minton on the 1942 John Gielgud production of Macbeth from age 19; and a book designer and illustrator, for Wyndham Lewis's The Human Age trilogy and William Golding. He also collaborated with Constant Lambert. His work is in several important collections including the Tate Gallery, London, National Portrait Gallery, London, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Fry Art Gallery, Essex.