Gallery 17 Piper

John Piper

Biography

John Egerton Christmas Piper, was born in Epsom in 1903. His talent was recognised but he was turned down for Royal College of Art in south Kensington because he did not have enough experience of drawing the nude. The rebuff was softened by being told to go to the Richmond School of Art, and to try again later. With the help of Richmond Art School after one year he was accepted into the Royal College. Piper was asked to join a group of artists that called themselves "the Seven and Five" and to exhibit with them. Included in the group were Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Ivon Hitchens, Frances Hodgkins , Barbara Hepworth, and Winifred Nicholson. John Piper was now part of an elite English movement in modern painting. Around about this time World war II broke out and everything was rationed, so it must have been hard to get hold of luxury items such as canvas, oil paints, bushes, paper and also there would have been no spare money to be spent on buying art. The Government had set up a scheme for art and it was called "The war artists scheme" In this scheme artists were paid to paint, probably by the hour or by the canvas on a 9-5 basis. Murals would have been painted and perhaps the artist's work would have been used for propaganda in some cases, or to boost Morale. John Piper was involved in this scheme as was Henry Moore and nearly every artist that had not signed up. Some obviously did go to the frontline to see first hand what was going on but others recorded the events at home. John Pipers paintings were mainly of derelict buildings or buildings that he anticipated getting bombed. It was from this time that Piper found his favourite motif of devastated architecture. Colour, texture and perspective heighten the dramatic effect of his romantic topographies, which have wide appeal.

Ceres and Proserpine Screenprint 1990 ed 70 60x73 £550 framed

Woodmans Cottage Charente Screenprint 1968 ed 70 42x65 £1600 framed

Foliate Head Lithograph 1979 ed 100 25x18.5 £1350 framed SOLD

Facade Screenprint 1987 ed 100 46x59 £1500 framed SOLD

The Quest Screenprint ed 100 1986 64x87 £1,400 framed SOLD

Street Scene from Don Giovanni Screenprint 1989 ed 70 31x51 £1,400 framed SOLD

Scotney Castle lithograph 1976 ed 120 47x60 £1,700 SOLD

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