Criss Canning

Criss Canning

The Pursuit of Beauty 3rd Revised Edition

Criss Cannings  new book " The Pursuit of Beauty", 3rd Revised Edition, featuring many of her paintings from the 2013 exhibition is available now in a strictly limited print run. This large format art book has an extensive new chapter by David Thomas and fifty new paintings, many from the 2013 exhibition at Savill Gallery, beautifully presented in hardcover format.

The Pursuit of Beauty

A Monograph by David Thomas

Foreword by Dame Elisabeth Murdoch

David Thomas' Monograph, tracing Criss Canning's career as an artist, is a masterpiece. He has led us through her long journey in The Pursuit of Beauty with great skill, giving us a wonderful picture of a very special human being who has had to face many difficult challenges in her life. She has met them all with admirable courage, because having to balance being a single loving mother and an artist was particularly difficult. The author's analysis of the artist's great gifts and her struggle to develop them is handled with sensitivity and understanding.

Criss Canning is a very determined and courageous character with infinite faith in her personal pursuit of beauty through the creation of art. A spiritual aspect seems to underlie much of her work.

David Thomas follows Criss all the way as she has moved from strength to strength. He has very much the feeling which I have for her work. Her pictures are so strong, and at the same time simple and serene. Her design is so wonderfully balanced and her sense of colour absolutely brilliant. When I first spoke to her, and then came to know her better, I was enchanted by her beautiful paintings and knew she was on the way to becoming famous. It has been a great pleasure for me to learn so much about Criss; she has had a fascinating and challenging life and has achieved so much.

We must all be grateful to David Thomas for giving us such a vivid picture of an important artist whose dedication to her muse has brought her close to beauty. In her own words, 'You cannot underestimate the need for beauty in our lives'.

The story of Criss Canning's quest in The Pursuit of Beauty is inspiring - as is the beauty of her happiness with her soul-mate, David Glenn.

Elisabeth Murdoch

Criss Canning Mini Book

Macmillan Mini-Art Book #9

This mini-book focuses on Canning's studies of her studio, with its extraordinary array of still-life objects and the artist's favourite flowers and botanical specimens. Many of the paintings have not been previously reproduced.