‘From There to Here’: The Art of Michael Buhler is the first book to focus in depth on the varied and in some ways enigmatic art of Michael Buhler (1940-2009). It brings together images of Buhler’s work in a range of media with writings by the artist and introductory essays by three noted art historians.

A student at the Royal College of Art in the early 1960s alongside Patrick Caulfield, David Hockney, R. B. Kitaj and Allen Jones, Buhler was doubtless one of the so-called ‘New Generation’ of British artists keen to embrace the latest developments in art. The combination of figuration, abstraction and a restricted palette in the distinctive figure-in-landscape works which came to define Buhler’s oeuvre were clearly informed by Pop and Op Art and Colour-Field Painting. Buhler’s favoured subjects include abstracted landscapes, UFOs and extra-terrestrials, mass-tourism and street scenes by night. Whilst these themes often lend themselves to humour, there is also a darker underside to Buhler’s work, as is clear in his highly original upper-world/under-world box constructions.

The carefully selected images and well-researched texts make this book the perfect introduction to an artist who, despite regular exhibitions, never quite achieved the renown he merited during his lifetime. Fans of Buhler’s will appreciate the chance to discover some of his lesser-known pieces and read the artist’s own reflections on his practice.