John Piper (artist)
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John Egerton Christmas Piper (1903–1992) was a well-known 20th century British artist who lived for many years at Fawley Bottom near Henley-on-Thames.
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Early life and education
He was born in Epsom, the son of a solicitor, and trained at the Richmond School of Art followed by the Royal College of Art in London.
Careers
He was primarily a painter, but collaborated with many others including the poet and author John Betjeman (on the Shell Guides series of guidebooks on the British Isles), the potter Geoffrey Eastop and the artist Ben Nicholson.
His work focused mainly on the British landscape, especially churches, and he spent much of his life studying the buildings he depicted. He designed the stained glass windows for the new Coventry Cathedral as well as many smaller churches and created tapestries for the Chichester Cathedral. He was also a set designer for the theatre, including the Kenton Theatre in Henley.
He also wrote extensively on modern art both as books and articles and co-founded Axis with his wife — a journal at the cutting edge of contemporary art
Exhibitions
182 of his works are in the Tate collection. These range in style from etchings to some abstract works. To quote:
- Abstraction is a luxury that has been left to the present day to exploit. "abstraction is the way to the heart — it is not the heart itself"
Later years
He largely withdrew from abstraction early in his career and concentrated on a more naturalistic but very distinctive approach. In his later years he produced many limited edition prints. He has had major exhibitions at the Tate Gallery in 1983–1984 and more recently (and posthumously), the Dulwich Picture Gallery (covering the 1930s), the Imperial War Museum (covering the 1940s) and, closer to his home, the River and Rowing Museum and the Museum of Reading. He was appointed an official war artist in 1944.
References
- Jenkins, David Fraser, John Piper, London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1983 (ISBN 0905005945).
- Jenkins, David Fraser, John Piper — The Robert and Rena Lewin Gift to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1992 (ISBN 1-85444-025-X).
- Jenkins, David Fraser, John Piper — The Forties, Philip Wilson Publishers, 2000 (ISBN 0856675296)
- Jenkins, David Fraser & Spalding, Frances, John Piper in the 1930's — Abstraction on the Beach, Merrell Publishers, 2003 (ISBN 1858942233)
- Ingrams, Richard & Piper, John, Piper's Places: John Piper in England and Wales, London: Chatto & Windus, The Hogarth Press, 1983 (ISBN 0701125500).
- Levinson, Orde, Quality and Experiment: The Prints of John Piper — A Catalogue Raisonné 1932–91, London: Lund Humphries Publishers, 1996 (ISBN 0853316902).
- West, Anthony, John Piper, Secker & Warburg, 1979 (ISBN 0436565919).
- Woods, S. John, John Piper Paintings Drawings & Theatre Designs 1932–1954, New York: Curt Valentin, 1955.
- Wortley, Laura, John Piper — Master of Diversity, Henley-on-Thames: River and Rowing Museum, 2000 (ISBN 0-9535571-1-0).