20th century English artist, John Piper.
Although John Piper never confined himself to any one particular movement, he was, in many ways, a quintessential British artist, with much of his work focusing on romantic English landscapes and buildings. This is perhaps one of the reasons that John Piper pieces remain so sought-after in the United Kingdom today; there is an inherent nostalgia within them, as if the artist was aware, even at the time of creation, that his subject matter might soon change beyond all recognition.
John Piper was an incredibly versatile artist who consistently experimented with different styles and media, including painting, printmaking, ceramics, and designing stained glass and theatre sets. But despite this, his prints remain the most popular pieces of his work on today’s market, with most selling for between £500 and £1,000, and many reaching far higher prices.
Piper is today remembered as one of the foremost British artists of the 20th century. But who was the man behind the iconic images of bombed-out churches and bucolic landscapes? Below are six things you may not have known about John Piper.
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He Defied His Father To Study Art
Piper grew up in rural Surrey, painting and drawing pictures of his surroundings from a young age. After leaving Epsom College in 1922, he decided he wanted to study to become an artist, but his father, a solicitor, had other ideas. He insisted his son join him at his law firm in London, where Piper worked until 1928. Eventually, he managed to escape to the Richmond School of Art, where he met his first wife, fellow student Eileen Holding. Piper subsequently joined the Royal College of Art, but he found it wasn’t to his liking, and he left in 1929, before receiving his diploma.
This restless defiance continued throughout the artist’s long career, with Piper refusing to ever be constrained by one style or artistic medium. He once said: “People think it dishonest to be chameleon-like in one’s artistic allegiances. On the other hand, I think it dishonest to be anything else.” It was a motto he lived by until his death in 1992.
His Most Expensive Prints Sold For £16,000
Piper is probably best-known for his images of churches and British landscapes, so it should be no surprise that his most expensive set of prints is A Retrospect of Churches, a set of 24 lithographs in colours which was sold for £16,000 by Christie’s in February 2008.
The series is a fascinating exploration of different churches throughout Britain. Using a number of interesting and, at the time, innovative techniques, Piper successfully recorded the intricate details and breathtaking beauty of the structures, making this set some of the most sought-after of his prints on today’s market.
A Retrospect of Churches Sold by Christies in 2008
He Was An Official War Artist In WW2
By the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Piper was beginning to make a name for himself, first through his experiments in avant-garde abstract work, and later via his defection back to a more figurative style centred around architecture and landscapes. He was asked to work as an official war artist by Sir Kenneth Clark, the chair of the War Artists’ Advisory Committee, and the driving force behind the Recording Britain project.
The aim of the project was to record British towns, landscapes, and buildings that were at risk of imminent annihilation or significant damage, given the destruction caused by the Blitz. Piper produced some of his best and most well-known work during this time, focusing on recording the ruins of famous buildings such as Coventry Cathedral and the Council Chamber in the House of Commons.
He Was Also A Writer And Critic
John Piper is unique in that he was a prominent proponent of abstract, modernist art, but also a great lover of figurative romantic painting, which made him well-placed to comment on the contemporary arts scene which surrounded him.
As a critic, he wrote about art, theatre, and music for a wide range of prestigious publications, including The Listener and The Nation, and in 1942, he published the book British Romantic Artists. He was among the first to recognise the talents of artists like Victor Pasmore, William Coldstream, and others, and in 1935, he even founded the contemporary art journal, Axis, with Myfanwy Evans, who would later become his second wife.
He Designed Stage Sets
Though Piper is primarily known for his paintings and prints of British landscapes, monuments, stately homes, and churches, he was incredibly versatile, and after World War II, he was greatly in demand as a set designer. He produced stage sets for a number of plays, operas, and ballets, including several by Benjamin Britten. His designs for the premier of Britten’s opera, Death in Venice, inspired his series of prints of the same name which sold for £13,000 in June 2016.
John Piper and Patrick Reyntiens, Robinson College Chapel window, 1979
And He Also Designed Stained Glass Windows.
John Piper’s stained glass can be found in churches across the country after he began experimenting in 1950, though the influence of stained glass can be seen throughout much of his work beforehand, with the artist stating: “I’ve always tried to achieve this translucent effect in my paintings.”
Piper collaborated with Patrick Reyntiens, the skilled artisan glassmaker, to produce many now famous pieces over the next decades. One of Piper’s most well known designs is the abstract baptistry window in Coventry Cathedral, though he worked on numerous other projects too, especially for churches and cathedrals that were affected by the Blitz. It seems fitting that his final commission was a memorial window for John Betjeman, his longtime friend and collaborator, at All Saints Church in Farnborough.
