AustLit

'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.)

'Donald Friend's legendary years in Bali in the 1960s and 70s and his subsequent final decade in Australia, are revealed in detail in this fourth and final volume of The Diaries Donald Friend. In Bali he lives luxuriously, like a lord - even keeping his own gamelan orchestra - and becomes an international celebrity artist. He welcomes guests such as Mick Jagger and the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, entertains numerous other visitors who want to buy his paintings and drawings and socialised freely with friends, including many other artists. He engages in significant building activity and property development while also producing superb illustrated manuscripts and books. And despite increasing ill-health, Friend continues to revel in his life's drama and creativity, remaining an eloquent, often charming and sometimes irascible companion. Including over 60 drawings from the diaries, many of them in colour, this volume confirms Friend's quicksilver creative brilliance and extraordinary insight. He is perhaps Australia's most important twentieth-century diarist. Published under the auspices of the Morris West Trust Fund.'

'Covering the period March 1949 to December 1966, Volume 3 of the extraordinary Diaries of Donald Friend sees Friend travel to Italy, London, France, Spain and Sri Lanka before eventually returning to Sydney. During this period he is also at Hill End (NSW), and in Queensland, all the time producing art (winning the Blake Prize in 1955), writing books, absorbing the influences of various cultures and meeting an interesting range of people, including Attilio Guarracino, Peter Sculthorpe, Patrick White, Robert Hughes and Ian Fairweather. Published under the auspices of the Morris West Trust Fund.' (Publication summary)

'Covering the period January 1944 to March 1949, the extraordinary life of Australian artist Donald Friend continues in The Diaries of Donald Friend Volume 2. This is the second of four casebound volumes published by the National Library, revealing Friend's fine powers of observation, his irreverence and wit, his sensitivity and his marvellous eloquence. The diaries speak about art, love, friendship, travel, and much more, making absorbing reading as Friend experiences his final years of war service, both in Brisbane and as an official war artist; his return to Sydney where he lived with fellow artists in the colonial mansion Merioola; his travels to the Torres Strait Islands; and time spent in the old gold-mining town of Hill End. Including over 100 drawings from the diaries, this book is an essential publication for all lovers of art and great writing. Published under the auspices of the Morris West Trust Fund.' (Publication summary)

'When Donald Friend died in 1989, he left behind over 40 volumes of his diary. This first volume covers Friend's early life as a student, his adventures in Nigeria, and his experiences in the army during World War II. Including 100 drawings from Friend's diaries, this book is a chance to discover Friend the artist and Friend the writer. Published under the auspices of the Morris West Trust Fund.' (Publication Summary)

A chapbook 'history' of the fictitious Patty Freelove, who falls in love with Charles, the son of a neighbouring farmer. Charles, accused of killing game, is forced into military service with the 'Botany Bay Rangers,' and Patty, heartbroken, disguises herself as a man and joins up too. After a narrow escape in Rio De Janeiro, when 'a Portugese Lady, of great beauty and fortune' falls in love with the disguised Patty and hires 'ruffians' to kill her when her advances are spurned, the ship eventually arrives at Port Jackson. There they are soon attacked by 'natives,' and Patty, who fights with 'surprising courage' is wounded in the breast, and her sex is discovered. Patty and Charles marry and are allowed to return to England. At the end of the prose narrative is a brief account of the state of the colony, said to be related by Patty and Charles on their return. This includes some factual details, mentioning Arthur Phillip's wounding (in September 1790), and the parlous state of provisions in the early colony.

The concluding 'New Song. Tune, The Hardy Tar,' recapitulates the events of the narrative in verse form.