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'At age fourteen, Donald Friend declared: "Have done quite a lot of painting lately, and have made up my mind that I shall be an artist. And I shall be famous!"
Friend achieved his aim. He also left behind more than two million words of brilliant, intimate diary entries—one of the greatest acts of autobiography in Australian history.
This is the first single-volume selection of these writings and includes material from the two 'lost' wartime diaries recently unearthed in America by Ian Britain, along with handsome sketches by Friend.
Everyone is here: Russell Drysdale, Margaret Olley, Jeffrey Smart, Robert Helpmann, Barry Humphries and Robert Hughes, Mick Jagger and Gore Vidal. Friend's frank and often acerbic reflections trace his career, acquaintances and love affairs—in Australia, England, Italy, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Bali—as well as many of the notable characters and events of the twentieth century.
Most of all, the diaries attest to his ceaseless desire to understand and master his art. Neither love, food, writing, money or music, nor flattery nor sincere admiration nor the company of friends (all the things I am most partial to),' Friend wrote, 'could seduce me from my painting.' Reworked into a chronological narrative, and supplemented by material from correspondence and interviews, The Donald Friend Diaries reveal an extraordinary Australian life.' (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
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Dedication:
To those who were in at the chase, USA, 2009:
Phillip in Boston and on the road
Bob in New York and Woodstock
Claire and Nick at Harvard
David and Bob in Philadelphia
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Friend, beyond the Controversy
2024
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 27-28 January 2024; (p. 19) -
Books : The Donald Friend Diaries
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Art Monthly Australia , October no. 244 2011; (p. 82)
— Review of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist 2010 selected work diary -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 27 November 2010; (p. 26)
— Review of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist 2010 selected work diary -
An Artist with a Writer's Eye
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 20 November 2010; (p. 23)
— Review of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist 2010 selected work diary -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , October vol. 90 no. 3 2010; (p. 31)
— Review of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist 2010 selected work diary
-
Donald the Diarist
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 326 2010; (p. 24, 26)
— Review of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist 2010 selected work diary -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: Bookseller + Publisher Magazine , October vol. 90 no. 3 2010; (p. 31)
— Review of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist 2010 selected work diary -
An Artist with a Writer's Eye
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 20 November 2010; (p. 23)
— Review of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist 2010 selected work diary -
Untitled
2010
single work
review
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 27 November 2010; (p. 26)
— Review of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist 2010 selected work diary -
Books : The Donald Friend Diaries
2011
single work
review
— Appears in: Art Monthly Australia , October no. 244 2011; (p. 82)
— Review of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist 2010 selected work diary -
Voice from the Past
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 25-26 September 2010; (p. 5,8-9) Ian Britain, editor of The Donald Friend Diaries : Chronicles and Confessions of an Australian Artist (2010), recovered long-lost volumes of the artist's diaries. -
Friend, beyond the Controversy
2024
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 27-28 January 2024; (p. 19)