Augustus John OM

SEATED NUDE Augustus John British Edwardian Artist 1878–1961

1920

Born in Tenby, Pembrokeshire, John was the younger son and third of four children. His father was Edwin William John, a Welsh solicitor; his mother, Augusta Smith from a long line of Sussex master plumbers,[1] died young when he was six, but not before inculcating a love of drawing in both Augustus and his older sister Gwen.[2] At the age of seventeen he briefly attended the Tenby School of Art, then left Wales for London, studying at the Slade School of Art, University College London. He became the star pupil of drawing teacher Henry Tonks and even before his graduation he was considered the most talented draughtsman of his generation. His sister, Gwen was with him at the Slade and became an important artist in her own right.[4] In 1897, John hit submerged rocks diving into the sea at Tenby, suffering a serious head injury; the lengthy convalescence that followed seems to have stimulated his adventurous spirit and accelerated his artistic growth.[5] In 1898, he won the Slade Prize with Moses and the Brazen Serpent. John afterward studied independently in Paris where he seems to have been influenced by Puvis de Chavannes.His most significant portraits include those of novelist James Joyce, playwright George Bernard Shaw, cellist Guilhermina Suggia, and poets Dylan Thomas and William Butler Yeats. John’s sister, Gwen John...

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Jean-Franck Baudoin (1870 - 1961) was one of the last great French post impressionist painters."Jean-Franck Baudoin was one of the last great French post-impressionist painters. He g...

Born of Irish parents in 1918, Tom W. Quinn has quite simply dedicated his life to art.A life dedicated to art? Yes, and a heart and soul, too. As this exhibition opens he will have just reached the grand age of 93, but in his rambling, light-filled studio in the Dordogne, Tom Quinn continues to paint every day, “while the light lasts” – depicting in beautifully soft, chalky hues the world around him – busy cafés...