The detail in each work is incredible. The strength and vulnerability of the birds as they fly - or fall into mortality - are echoed in the ghostly appearances of the toi moko, referencing Cotton's ancestor, Hongi Hika.
"At a stretch," writes Paton, "one could call these family portraits." After the blues and the blacks, elements of red emerge - blood, guns, red skies - until Cotton moves on to a series of intricately decorated baseball bats with titles such as Myth Smasher, Serpent Garden, Paradise Club and Hit Marker.
The exquisite production and writing match the breathtaking beauty of Cotton's deeply affecting work. The indigo blue of the page edges is a lovely extra touch to this exceptional book.
Landscape Paintings of New Zealand: A Journey From North To South by Christopher Johnstone
(Godwit $75)
A revised edition of Johnstone's 2006 book, with the addition of 34 new works, this has just been named as one of the Times Literary Supplement's books of the year, saying it "shows how the most exciting countryside in the English-speaking world has inspired painters during the past 244 years".
Johnstone starts the journey in the Far North (Beatrix Dobie's Cape Te Reinga, 1922) and steadily moves down through Aotearoa with a wide range of artists and landscapes. The book showcases the diversity of our land, and celebrates a plethora of styles, winding up with Maxwell Walker's Sunset, Paterson Inlet From Observation Point, Stewart Island, 1938.
The most recent work is Awhitu Looking to Whatipu (2011), by John Madden. At the back, a map of each island links the paintings with the places they depict.
A Place For Art: Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki
(Auckland Art Gallery $25)
Very reasonably priced and nicely produced guide to the process that moved our gallery into the 21st century with its meticulous expansion and renovations which re-opened in 2011. When Governor Sir William Jervois first opened the gallery in 1888, he said, "I look forward to the day when this building will be too small." And it didn't take long before it was.
Former director Chris Saines, who saw the project through from go to whoa, delivers a succinct history of the transformation; there is an illustrated timeline from 1840-2013; drawings by Fiona Connor of the "peeling back" of layers in the building; decommission photos by Jennifer French; and outstanding images throughout by Patrick Reynolds, which pick up the superb details in the architectural features.
From Earth's End: The Best of New Zealand Comics by Adrian Kinnaird
(Godwit $59.99)
Comics blogger Kinnaird opens this very substantial survey (431 pages plus appendices) with a four-page illustrated guide to how the New Zealand cartoon community has emerged "to create something entirely unique from our corner of the world".
The chapter The Pioneer's Path: 1900-1940 revisits comic strips such as The Tee Wees' Adventures and The Kowhai Fairies by D. Price, which ran in the Auckland Star in the 1930s, and salutes Noel Cook, who produced science-fiction strips which were published to great acclaim in Australia before he achieved recognition here.
Later artists include (naturally) Dylan Horrocks, Martin Edmond, Trace Hodgson, Sarah Laing, Ralphi, Chris Slane, Ant Sang and many more.
It's a fresh and fascinating roundup of what seems to be a thriving part of our culture that has too often been overlooked.
A Short Book About Drawing by Andrew Marr
(Quadrille $34.99)
British journalist and broadcaster Marr had a severe, life-threatening stroke shortly after finishing this book last year.
Previously accustomed to drawing every day, his slow recovery was frustrated by the paralysis of his left hand.
As he learned to walk again, "I felt very vulnerable and quite scared. Drawing my vulnerability helped."
As he says, this is a book (with revisions and additions) about an activity which makes him happy. All the drawings are by Marr, and the chapters are insightful and rather poignant.
In the introduction, he thanks his friends David Hockney and Antony Gormley and his "ferocious rehab coach".
