Etching
h10 x w15.2cm
Edition 8 of 50

Augustus John (1878 – 1961) was born in Pembrokeshire, 1878, John, best known as a portraitist, was also a skilled draughtsman and painter. He studied art at the Slade from 1894-98, holding his first one-man show a year later at the Carfax Gallery. After his first marriage in 1901 and a stint teaching at Liverpool University College he travelled extensively, living in gypsy caravans and slowed only by the loss of his wife in 1907.

Marrying his mistress, John’s work was renewed. Well-received by critics, in 1914 he was elected President of the National Portrait Society and appointed as an official war artist in 1919. Success after the war continued: he was elected an R.A. in 1928, was awarded the Order of Merit in 1942, and in 1952 had his first autobiographical work Chiaroscuro published. John died at Fryern Court in 1961.