John Piper (artist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Egerton Christmas Piper CH (December 13, 1903 – June 28, 1992) was a 20th century English painter and printmaker who lived for many years at Fawley Bottom near Henley-on-Thames. By the late 1930’s he became less found of abstracts and moved on in art work. He died in 1992 at the age of 89.
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[edit] Early life and education
He was born in Epsom, the son of a solicitor, educated at Epsom College and trained at the Richmond School of Art followed by the Royal College of Art in London.
[edit] Careers
He was a painter, but collaborated with many others including the poet and author John Betjeman (on the Shell Guides series of guidebooks), 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 with Patrick Reyntiens, as well as those for many smaller churches and created tapestries for Chichester Cathedral and Hereford Cathedral. He was also a set designer for the theatre, including the Kenton Theatre, his local theatre in Henley, and for the Royal Opera House production of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream.
He also wrote extensively on modern art both as books and articles and co-founded (with his wife Myfanwy) the contemporary art journal, Axis.
[edit] Exhibitions
182 of his works are in the Tate collection. These range in style from etchings to some abstract works. Major retrospective exhibitions have been held at Tate Britain, the Dulwich Picture Gallery and the Imperial War Museum, all in London.
[edit] 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 place of residence, the River and Rowing Museum and the Museum of Reading. He was appointed an official war artist in 1940.
[edit] Quotations
- 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.
[edit] References
- Jenkins, David Fraser, John Piper, London: Tate Gallery Publications, 1983 (ISBN 0-905005-94-5).
- 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 0-85667-529-6)
- Jenkins, David Fraser & Spalding, Frances, John Piper in the 1930's — Abstraction on the Beach, Merrell Publishers, 2003 (ISBN 1-85894-223-3)
- Ingrams, Richard & Piper, John, Piper's Places: John Piper in England and Wales, London: Chatto & Windus, The Hogarth Press, 1983 (ISBN 0-7011-2550-0).
- Levinson, Orde, Quality and Experiment: The Prints of John Piper — A Catalogue Raisonné 1932–91, London: Lund Humphries Publishers, 1996 (ISBN 0-85331-690-2).
- West, Anthony, John Piper, Secker & Warburg, 1979 (ISBN 0-436-56591-9).
- 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 0-9535571-1-1) OCLC 55970238
[edit] External links
- Huge site devoted to the work of John Piper
- Page dedicated to John Piper
- Artcyclopedia entry
- Artnet entry
- John Piper — Master of Diversity exhibition at the River and Rowing Museum, 2000
- Shell Guides Website
- John Piper at the Tate Gallery Archive
- Photo
- Christ Between Saints Peter and Paul - Stained Glass designed by John Piper. Glass. Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved on 2007-06-16.
