Famous for his romantic landscapes, views of ruined churches, stately homes and castles, John Piper ( 1903 – 1992 ) is considered to be one of the most significant British artists of the 20th Century.
Born in Epsom in 1903, Piper's inclination to become an artist was inhibited by his father's desire for him to join the family firm. Following the death of his father, Piper enrolled in the Richmond School of Art and a year later the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1929.
In the early 1930's Piper exhibited with the London Group and became secretary of the Seven and Fife Society which included Henry Moore, Ivon Hitchens, Ben Nicholson and Paul Nash. He also made a number of trips to Paris where he befriended Alexander Calder and visited the studios of Arp, Brancusi and Jean Hélion. Surrounded by these avant-garde artists, Piper's work of this period reflected the trend for abstraction but by the late 1930's he had returned to a more naturalistic style.
In 1937 Piper married the painter Myfanwy Evans who collaborated on his later work. Collaborations were important to Piper and fuelled his artistic output. The Shell Guides ( a series of illustrated books on the British Isles ) were created with the poet John Betjeman and he produced pottery with Geoffrey Eastop.
Piper worked on stage designs and costumes for theatre and ballet as well as the designs for six operas by Benjamin Britten. A versatile artist, Piper also wrote articles on art and architecture and designed stained glass windows for a number of buildings including the new Coventry Cathedral.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Piper was commissioned by the 'war artists' scheme' to capture the affects of the war on the British landscape. The devastation of the Blitz was easily assimilated to Piper's personal interest in old ruined buildings. He had also lost his eldest brother in the First World War which may have made the commission particularly poignant and enabled him to respond with his deepest emotion. During these years he travelled the country, capturing the atmosphere of places. These scenes do not always directly relate to bomb-damage but reflect, in Piper's unique way, a sense of loss and nostalgia. In 1944 he was appointed Official War Artist. Piper died at his home in Fawley Bottom, Buckinghamshire in 1992.
This is part 1 of a 3-part post on the works of John Piper.
Parts 1 and 2 show his work chronologically. Part 3 features his 1964 series ‘Churches’, and his 1977 series ‘Victorian Dream Palaces’.
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1933-34 Beach with Starfish
ink, gouache and collage on paper 38 x 48.5 cm
© Tate, London |
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1935 Abstract 1
oil on canvas 91.7 x 106.5 cm
© Tate, London |
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c1935 Composition
oil on canvas 55.4 x 68 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1936 Littlestone-on-Sea
ink and collage on paper 35.9 x 47.6 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1939-40 Ruined Cottage, Llanthony, Wales
oil on canvas 39.4 x 49.7 cm
© Mrs Clarissa Lewis |
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1940 Redland Park Congregational Church, Bristol
oil on canvas 61 x 51 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1940 St Mary le Port, Bristol
oil and pencil on canvas 76.2 x 63.5 cm
© Tate, London |
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1940 The Dairy, Fawley Court
watercolour and drawing 52.7 x 40 cm
© Tate, London |
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1941 Seaton Delaval
oil on canvas 71.1 x 111.7 cm
© Tate, London |
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1941 Seaton Delaval, the Central Block
oil on canvas 62 x 51 cm
© The Piper estate
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In 1942 Piper was suddenly sent to Bath
following three nights of bombing there. He worked while the buildings were
still burning. Reviewing an exhibition of war art at the National Gallery in
October 1941 Piper wrote, 'after a war the controlled emotional record of
actual events - the record made at once from experience and in the heat of the
moment - is the only one that counts'. The watercolours he made in Bath
provided the occasion for making such a record:
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1942 All Saints Chapel, Bath
ink, chalk, gouache and watercolour on paper 42.5 x 55.9 cm
© Tate, London |
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1942 Somerset Place, Bath
pencil, ink and gouache on paper 48.9 x 76.2 cm
© Tate, London |
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1943 Gordale Scar, Yorkshire
© The Piper Estate |
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1944 Glaciated Rocks, Nant
pen and ink and wash on paper
© The Piper Estate |
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1947 Slopes of Glyder Fawr, Llyn Adwal, Caernarvonshire, Wales
pen, ink and watercolour 55 x 70 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1947-48 Yarnton Monument
oil on canvas 62.9 x 75.3 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1953 Drysllwyn Castle
lithograph 37.8 x 53.7
© The Piper Estate |
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1956 Montagne sur Mer
oil on canvas 71.1 x 91.4 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1961 Coast of Brittany I
gouache and collage on paper 55.9 x 77.5 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1961 Coast of Brittany II
gouache and collage on paper 57.1 78.1 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1961 The Forum
oil on canvas 106.7 x 152.4 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1961-62 Beach in Brittany
lithograph 47.3 x 64.5 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1961-62 San Marco, Venice
lithograph 64.5 x 46.7 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1962-63 Anglesey Beach
lithograph 55.9 x 44.5 cm
© The Piper Estate |
In 1962 Piper designed fibreglass
murals to be installed on the exterior of the conference room wing projecting
from the front of the new North Thames Gas Board building in Wandsworth
( Architects E.R.Collister, 1959-1962 ). This commission helped define his later
abstract work, stating that these pieces were "helpful because it taught me
something of the values of clear colours, one against another."
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| 1962 Designs for North Thames Gas Board |
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1962 Trial Maquette for the North Thames Gas Board Building
oil 52 x 41.1 cm |
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| North Thames Gas Board building |
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1965 Southwold II
gouache 58.4 x 78.7 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1966 Ironbridge
lithograph 48.3 x 64.5 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1966 Swansea Chapel
lithograph 68.9 x 51.8 cm
© The Piper Estate |
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1966-67 Bethesda Chapel
lithograph 52.7 x 68.9 cm
© The Piper Estate |
