Publishing Christian art books today is a hazardous business; most of it is in the hands of small enthusiastic publishers committed to publishing art rather than building a business empire.
So it's been quite a surprise in the last year or two to see one of the most exciting developments in this field coming, originally, from Britain's largest publishing-and-bookshop giant, STL. The first mention in this column came with an enthusiastic review of Hilary Brand and Adrienne Chaplin, Art and Soul (1999), published under STL's Solway imprint and one of the most substantial books on Christian art to have been published in the evangelical market since Hans Rookmaaker's decades ago.
Solway was the brainchild of Pieter Kwant, who brought a Dutch and South African perspective, plus an immense enthusiasm for art, to bear on what seemed an unpromising market. Solway also published such books as City of God (various writings about heaven stunningly illustrated by Steve Rigley), Learning to Fly by Adrian Plass and painter Ben Ecclestone, and a book of paintings on the Apocalypse by Dutch artist Anneke Kaai. (To declare an interest, Solway also published a book by myself and my wife on the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins, Over the Bent World.)
Piquant P. Kwant
Solway was still quite a young imprint when Pieter Kwant left STL and launched out on his own with his wife Elria to create an entirely new publishing house predominantly focused on the arts (though his background as a publisher and marketer of academic theological books accounts for several non-arts titles in his list). Called 'Piquant' (think about it ...), the new company has just issued its first catalogue. The ten titles include Art and Soul, which Pieter bought from Solway, and two titles by Anneke Kaai with text from Eugene Peterson's The Message. Kaai's strong textures and endlessly varied surfaces create moving visualisations of the biblical themes, often seeming to contain vast space but always drawing the viewer into the picture. As striking as the painter's achievement is that of the publisher in producing these superbly printed hardbacks at just £12.99 each.
Urban Angel is a series of poems by Stewart Henderson and Penelope Wilcock - 'exploring the soul of the city' - illustrated by Ben Ecclestone in collages and drawings which I think are his most coherent and compelling work so far. But for me the most striking of Piquant's art books is Steven Purcells' Even among these Rocks. This is 'a spiritual journey' composed of quotations, meditations and other texts drawn together in a richly designed and hand-lettered volume, the printing of which reflects the fine materials and craftsmanship of the originals I saw while the book was in production.
Polygamy & Olive Leaves
Besides the art books, Piquant offers two pocket books, one a study of polygamy by I. Gaskiyane, the other the testimony by a Syrian Muslim, telling of his conversion to Christ. Apart from the significance of the content, these little books are produced to the same high standards as the art volumes.
Two rather large paperbacks contain examples of the work of Calvin Seerveld, one of the most significant recent writers on Christian art. A professor of aesthetics in Toronto with a large UK following, he has an idiosyncratic, forceful style that has probably prevented many people benefiting from his work. Pieter commissioned critic and editor Nigel Halliday, known to many EN readers, to revise the text of Seerveld's latest work, Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves, in the direction of readability. It's been done sensitively and the original writer's flair and passion are preserved. Halliday also helped with In the Fields of the Lord, a Seerveld anthology edited by Craig Bartholomew, and it shows. The two books together form a handy crash course in thinking hard about Christianity and the arts.
I hope all these books will be reviewed in EN in due course. The last is self-recommending, however. Paul Hattaway's Operation China is an obvious companion to Operation World by Patrick Johnstone, who writes an introduction. It's a lovingly produced survey of 490 people groups in China, beautifully illustrated and packed with details. Largely unreached by the gospel, these are people virtually unknown to the worldwide church. Now we have no excuse. On the back cover, China authorities David Barrett and Tony Lambert call it 'the most significant new contribution to missions research in 20 years,' and 'an essential tool for prayer, strategy and action'.
Pieter and Elria have stamped an innovative and discerning identity on their fledgling company, and it will be interesting to see what the next ten books are. In the meantime, I suggest you get to your local bookshop and find out what all the fuss is about. If you buy any of their titles as a gift for a friend, do yourself a favour and get a copy for yourself too. It will save you an inevitable return trip to the bookshop.
