Ceri Richards and Dylan Thomas: Keys to Transformation

A few hours before the death of Dylan Thomas in 1953, the Welsh artist Ceri Richards made a series of forty drawings in a copy of Thomas' Collected Poems. These were published in facsimile in 1980 with an introduction by Richard Burns, one of the leading European artists of his time whose work was greatly influenced by the poetry of Thomas. The publication of Keys To Transformation provides valuable insights into both Richard's and Thomas' work. Taking as its point of departure the 1953 drawings, it also explores Richard's work methods, his development in the light of Thomas' influence, and the symbols common to his and Thomas' art.