John Piper (artist)
Encyclopedia
Order of the Companions of Honour
The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V in June 1917, as a reward for outstanding achievements in the arts, literature, music, science, politics, industry or religion....
(13 December 1903 – 28 June 1992) was a 20th-century English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
painter and printmaker. For much of his life he lived at Fawley Bottom
Fawley Bottom
Fawley Bottom is a very small village in south Buckinghamshire, England, north of Henley-on-Thames.The artist John Piper and his wife, the librettist Myfanwy Piper, were notable long-term residents of Fawley Bottom Farmhouse in the 20th century, from the mid 1930s for the rest of their lives in the...
in Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, near Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
.
Life
Piper, the son of a solicitor, was born in EpsomEpsom
Epsom is a town in the borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England. Small parts of Epsom are in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead. The town is located south-south-west of Charing Cross, within the Greater London Urban Area. The town lies on the chalk downland of Epsom Downs.-History:Epsom lies...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, in 1903. He was educated at Epsom College
Epsom College
Epsom College is an independent co-educational public school in Epsom, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 13 to 18. Founded in 1853 to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orphans , Epsom's long-standing association with medicine was estimated in 1980 as...
and trained at the Richmond School of Art, followed by the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He turned from abstraction early in his career, concentrating on a more naturalistic but distinctive approach.
As a child, John Piper lived in Epsom which was, in those days, in the countryside. He would go exploring on his bike, and would draw and paint pictures of old churches and monuments on the way. He started making his own guide books at a young age, complete with pictures and information. When it came to finishing at Epsom College, Piper wanted to go to art school, to study to become an artist. However, Piper's father Charles disagreed, and wanted him to be a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
like himself. They formed an agreement that John Piper would work for his father in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
for three years, and then could pursue whatever career he chose. However, John failed the law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
exams. Charles Piper died soon after, so John was free to become an artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. His work often focused on the British landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
, especially churches.
Piper was appointed an official war artist
War artist
A war artist depicts some aspect of war through art; this might be a pictorial record or it might commemorate how "war shapes lives." War artists have explored a visual and sensory dimension of war which is often absent in written histories or other accounts of warfare.- Definition and context:A...
in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
from 1940-1942. The morning after the Air Raid
Coventry Blitz
The Coventry blitz was a series of bombing raids that took place in the English city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Second World War by the German Air Force...
that destroyed Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral
Coventry Cathedral, also known as St Michael's Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry, in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current bishop is the Right Revd Christopher Cocksworth....
, Piper produced his first painting of bomb damage, Interior of Coventry Cathedral now exhbited at the Herbert Art Gallery. Jeffery Daniels in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
described the painting of the ruins as "all the more poignant for the exclusion of a human element". It has been described as "Britain's Guernica
Guernica (painting)
Guernica is a painting by Pablo Picasso. It was created in response to the bombing of Guernica, Basque Country, by German and Italian warplanes at the behest of the Spanish Nationalist forces, on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War...
".
He collaborated with many others, including the poet John Betjeman
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
(on the Shell Guides
Shell Guides
The Shell Guides were originally a 20th century series of guidebooks on the counties of Britain. They were aimed at a new breed of car-driving metropolitan tourist, and for those who sought guides that were neither too serious nor too shallow and who took pleasure in the ordinary and peculiar...
), as well as with the potter Geoffrey Eastop
Geoffrey Eastop
Geoffrey Eastop is an English potter.Eastop was born in London, where he studied at Goldsmiths' College. He also studied at the Academie Ranson, Paris....
and the artist Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Benjamin Lauder "Ben" Nicholson, OM was a British painter of abstract compositions , landscape and still-life.-Background and Training:...
. In later years he produced many limited-edition prints.
Along with Patrick Reyntiens
Patrick Reyntiens
Patrick Reyntiens, OBE, is an English stained glass artist.He is notable for his work on Liverpool's Roman Catholic Cathedral and on the new Coventry Cathedral in collaboration with the artist John Piper...
he designed the stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows for the new Coventry Cathedral, and later for the Chapel of Robinson College, Cambridge. Washington National Cathedral
Washington National Cathedral
The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...
prominently features his large window, "The Land Is Bright". He also designed windows for many smaller churches. Piper created tapestries for Chichester Cathedral
Chichester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, otherwise called Chichester Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in Sussex, England...
and Hereford Cathedral
Hereford Cathedral
The current Hereford Cathedral, located at Hereford in England, dates from 1079. Its most famous treasure is Mappa Mundi, a mediæval map of the world dating from the 13th century. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.-Origins:...
. He was a set designer for the theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, including the Kenton Theatre
Kenton Theatre
The Kenton Theatre is an old theatre in the town of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England.The theatre was founded 7 November 1805 and is the fourth oldest working theatre in the United Kingdom. It is staffed by volunteers...
in Henley
Henley-on-Thames
Henley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
and Llandaff Cathedral
Llandaff Cathedral
Llandaff Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is situated in the district of Llandaff in the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The current building was constructed in the 12th century over the site of an earlier church...
in Cardiff. He also designed many of the premiere productions of Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's operas at Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
, the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, La Fenice
La Fenice
Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres...
and the Aldeburgh Festival
Aldeburgh Festival
The Aldeburgh Festival is an English arts festival devoted mainly to classical music. It takes place each June in the Aldeburgh area of Suffolk, centred on the main concert hall at Snape Maltings...
, as well as for some of the operas of Alun Hoddinott
Alun Hoddinott
Alun Hoddinott CBE , was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition.-Life and works:...
.
Piper also wrote extensively on modern art in books and articles. With his wife, Myfanwy Piper
Myfanwy Piper
Mary Myfanwy Piper was a British art critic and opera librettist.Myfanwy Evans was born into a Welsh family in London. She attended North London Collegiate School and read English Language and Literature at St Hugh's College, Oxford. She married the artist John Piper, with whom she lived in rural...
, he founded the contemporary art journal, Axis.
His children include painters Edward Piper
Edward Piper
Edward Blake Christmas Piper was an English painter.Edward Piper was the eldest son of the artist John Piper and his wife Myfanwy. He was educated at Lancing College and later studied under Howard Hodgkin at the Bath Academy of Art in Corsham and later at the Slade School in London.He produced...
and Sebastian Piper
Sebastian Piper
Sebastian Piper is an English painter, musician, and photographer.Seb Piper is the son of the artist John Piper and the librettist Myfanwy Piper and the younger brother of Edward Piper....
, and his grandchildren include painter Luke Piper
Luke Piper
Luke Piper is an English landscape painter, especially in watercolours.Luke Piper is the son of the painter Edward Piper. He is also the eldest grandson of another artist, John Piper. He grew up in Frome, Somerset and is still based in the county...
and sculptor Henry Piper
Henry Piper
Henry Piper is an English sculptor.Henry Piper studied philosophy at the University of Sussex, UK. He is a son of the painter Edward Piper and a grandson of the 20th century landscape artist, John Piper. His brother Luke is also a painter....
.
His auction record, £325,250, was set at Sotheby's
Sotheby's
Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...
on 15 July 2008 for "Forms on Dark Blue", a 3' by 4' oil painted in 1936.
Exhibitions
182 of his works are in the TateTate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
collection, including etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
s and some earlier abstractions
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
. Major retrospective exhibitions have been held at Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
(1983–1984), the Dulwich Picture Gallery
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London. England's first purpose-built public art gallery, it was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane and opened to the public in 1817. Soane arranged the exhibition spaces as a series of interlinked rooms illuminated naturally...
, the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, the River and Rowing Museum
River and Rowing Museum
The River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, is located on a site at Mill Meadows by the River Thames. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames, the international sport of rowing and the local town of...
, and the Museum of Reading
Museum of Reading
The Museum of Reading is a museum of the history of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire, and the surrounding area...
.
Quotations
- AbstractionAbstractionAbstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....
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.
Further reading
- Levinson, Orde, The Prints of John Piper: Quality and Experiment — A Catalogue Raisonné 1923–91: Revised and Expanded Third Edition, Farnham, Lund Humphries, 2010 (ISBN 978-1-84822-063-8).
- Bowen, Jane (curator), John Piper centenary Crossing boundaries, 2002 (ISBN 0-9535571-4-6).
- Davis, Howard, A Great Job Of Work For All Time. John Piper - Unknown Mosaicist, Andamento No.3 2009 [British Association for Modern Mosaic]
- Heathcote, David, A Shell Eye on England: The Shell County Guides 1934-1984, Faringdon: Libri Publishing, 2010 (ISBN 978-1- 907471-07-0)
- Jenkins, David Fraser & Piper, John, A Painter's Camera, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
: Tate GalleryTate GalleryThe Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
Publications,1987 (ISBN 0-946590-81-8) - Jenkins, David Fraser, John Piper — The Robert and Rena Lewin Gift to the Ashmolean Museum, OxfordOxfordThe city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
: Ashmolean MuseumAshmolean MuseumThe Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
, 1992 (ISBN 1-85444-025-X). - Ingrams, RichardRichard IngramsRichard Ingrams is an English journalist, a co-founder and second editor of the British satirical magazine Private Eye, and now editor of The Oldie magazine.-Career:...
& 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).
- Spalding, FrancesFrances SpaldingFrances Spalding CBE, FRSL is a British art historian and writer.She studied at Nottingham University and gained her PhD for a study of Roger Fry. She taught art history at Sheffield City Polytechnic before becoming a freelance writer and curator...
, John Piper, Myfanwy Piper: Lives in Art, Oxford University PressOxford University PressOxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, 2009 (ISBN 978-0-19-956761-4). - Powers, Alan, et al., Piper in print, Artist's Choice Edition, 2010 (ISBN 978-0-9558343-2-5).
- West, Anthony, John Piper, Secker & Warburg, 1979 (ISBN 0-436-56591-9).
- Woods, S. John, John Piper Paintings Drawings & Theatre Designs 1932–1954, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
: Curt ValentinCurt ValentinCurt Valentin was a German-born American art dealer known for handling modern art, particularly sculpture, and works classified as "degenerate" by the Nazi regime in pre-war Germany....
, 1955. - Wortley, Laura, John Piper — Master of Diversity, Henley-on-ThamesHenley-on-ThamesHenley-on-Thames is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, about 10 miles downstream and north-east from Reading, 10 miles upstream and west from Maidenhead...
: River and Rowing MuseumRiver and Rowing MuseumThe River and Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, is located on a site at Mill Meadows by the River Thames. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames, the international sport of rowing and the local town of...
, 2000 (ISBN 0-9535571-1-1)