John Piper in the Countryside Exhibition Catalogue
John Piper in the Countryside
@The Barn Gallery, Netherwood Estate, Herefordshire
May/June 2025
John Piper (1903-1992)
Born in Epsom in 1903, John (Egerton Christmas) Piper, widely known as ‘JP’, studied at Richmond School of Art and the Royal College of Art from 1927-8 and inthe mid-1930s. After a visit to Paris, he turned to abstraction, he became a member of the London Group in 1933 and a founder member of the ‘Seven and Five’ group in January 1934. During this period, he became friends with Oliver Simon of the Curwen Press and his interest in lithography and printmaking grew to become one of the main media in which he worked
A quintessentially English and 20 th century artist, John Piper was endlessly innovative and extraordinarily prolific. He was dedicated to excellence and quality in all he did and there is hardly a medium in which he did not excel, including ceramics, fabric design, mosaics, murals, photography, stage sets and costume design, stained glass and even designing fireworks displays, he was also editor of the Shell Guide series for some 40 years.
By the end of the 1930s, he had become disillusioned with abstraction and returned to a more naturalistic and representational approach. He concentrated on landscapes and architectural views in a distinctive style characterised as continuing the English Romantic or Neo-Romantic tradition.
During the Second World War, Piperwas appointed as an official war artist recording the effects of the blitz on Britain’s buildings, especially churches. After the war, he became a Trustee of theTate and National Galleries and in 1959 he became a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission.
He is best known for his extensive studies of British architecture, especially churches, and for landscapes in oil, watercolour and print His work is often characterised by a bold use of colour, dynamic composition and an ability to capture the character of a place with a strong sense of atmosphere
His work is avidly collected and is held in many museums and galleries but he was no establishment man, a position which may partly explain his ridiculously low profile in the art world. He loathed the Royal Academy and refused a knighthood in 1972 though he accepted a Companion of Honour for ‘distinction in arts’, something of an understatement.
Dr RichardTurkington, FRSA Director, Fifties Art
Fabrics Fabrics Fabrics
1 Finisterre, 1969
Original cotton fabric for David Whitehead Ltd, £850
2. Fawley, 1960
Original cotton fabric designed for David Whitehead Ltd, £850
3.
Original cotton fabric for Sandersons, £850
Arundel, 1960
Original
£650
Original
£650
4 Foliate Head, 1954/1961
cotton fabric for David Whitehead Ltd
5 Foliate Head, 1954/1961
cotton fabric for David Whitehead Ltd
6. Brittany Beach, 1961 Limited edition lithograph, no. 72 of 75, £1,750
7. Brittany, 1968 Original cotton fabric for David Whitehead Ltd., £850
8. Chiesa Della Salute (Venice), 1960, original cotton fabric for Sandersons, £850
9. Church Monument, Exton (Rutland), 1954 Original and rare cotton fabric designed for David Whitehead Ltd, £850
Sunflowers, 1988, tapestry
West DeanTapestry Studio made this for Barclays de Zoete Wedd but it was sold when they moved from Lombard Street to Canary Wharf in 2005 as it was not required in the new headquarters.Two weavers Penny Bush andValerie Powerwere given a mixed media of the design by Piperwhich they first translated into a cartoon the size of the planned tapestry.They then worked side by side for some six months creating the tapestry whilst keeping the Piper original on a nearby easel for colour reference. Unusually they worked from the bottom to the top (like Australian weavers) rather than from side to side Penny Bush said she loved the colours and considerable variations thereof which added more of a challenge to the weaving process At the end of the six months Piperwas invited to West Dean and ceremoniously cut the tapestry from the loom
The Sunflowers tapestry has been kindly loaned by Hugh FowlerWright and is for display purposes only. However, an artist's proof, limited-edition Sunflowers print is for sale. For listing, please see page 19.
The Classics & the Countryside
Original print, one of only 10 unfolded copies, £1,100
11.
1966, Limited edition screenprint, no. 73 of 75, £1,750
Limited edition screenprint, no 2 of 70, £1,750
10. Kidwelly Castle (Carmarthenshire), 1984
12 Garn Fawr (Pembrokeshire), 1968
Penybont Ford Congregational Church (Powys),
13. Swansea Chapel, 1964
Limited edition lithograph, proof, £1,250
14. Dryslwyn Castle, (Carmarthenshire), 1953, limited edition lithograph, no. 64 of 75, £1,500
15. Connemara, (Galway), 1978, limited edition screenprint, one of 50 from the ‘Stones & Bones’ portfolio, £1,250
16. Oxburgh Hall, (Norfolk), 1977, Limited edition screenprint, no. 112 of 120, £2,250
17. Radcliffe Camera, (Oxford University), 1981, limited edition screenprint, artist’s trial proof, £2,250
18. Three SomersetTowers, 1973, limited edition screenprint, no. 51 of 70, £2,250
19. Kirkham Priory Gateway, (Yorkshire), 1988, limited edition screenprint, no. 37 of 100, £2,500
20. HarlaxtonThrough the Gate, (Lincolnshire), 1976, limited edition screenprint, no. 8 of 75, £2,250
22. Sunningwell, (Oxfordshire), 1985, limited edition screenprint, no. 22 of 70, £2,250
21. Isle Abbots, (Somerset), 1986, limited edition screenprint, no. 61 of 100, £2,500
23. Duchêne Fountain, Blenheim, (Oxfordshire), 1968, limited edition screenprint, no. 8 of 100, £1,750
24. Holdenby, (Northamptonshire), 1978, limited edition lithograph 42 of 75, £1,750
26. Blenheim Gates, 1983, screenprint from the 80th Anniversary Portfolio, no. 69 of 75, £2,000
25. The Pebble Alcove, Stowe, (Buckinghamshire), 1986, limited edition screenprint, 42 of 70, £1,750
27. Ettington Park, (Warwickshire), 1977, limited edition screenprint, no. 26 of 75, £1,750
28. Waddesdon, (Buckinghamshire), 1989, limited edition screenprint, no. 18 of 70, £2,250
29 Pyrton Manor, (Oxfords ), 1990, limited edition screenprint, no 21 of 70, £1,500
30. Courthouse, Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, 1978, limited edition screenprint, no 120 of 120, £1,500
31 High Cross, Hampshire, 1978, limited edition lithograph, no 13 of 75, £1,000
32. Church in a Copse, 1982, original and rare four colourwallpaper design, Galperin and Davidson Ltd., £650
33 Foliate Heads II, 1953, limited edition lithograph, no. 59 of 70, £1,500
34 The Seasons - Summer, 1981, limited edition etching, no. 54 of 100, £1,750
36. Terrace with Red Pots, 1987, limited edition screenprint, artist’s proof, £2,250
35. Lower Brockhampton, (Herefordshire), 1983, very rare screenprint, no. 6 of only 10 dedication copies, ‘Eightieth Anniversary Portfolio’ Special Deluxe Edition, £3,250
37. Late Summer Flowers, (1989), limited edition etching with aquatint, no. 40 of 70, £2,250
38. Sunflowers, 1989, limited edition etching and aquatint, artist’s proof, £2,500
40.Terrace with Morning Glories, 1987, limited edition screenprint, no. 31 of 70, 2,250
39. Baths of Caracalla (Rome), 25.02.1961, original and signed watercolour, pencil, pastel and wax crayon, £5,500
41 Anvin s/sTernoise, P de C, (Pas de Calais), c 1957, original and signed watercolour, £7,500
42. Snape Opera House, (Aldeburgh), 1979, original and signed mixed media, one of two collages on which the 1979 limited edition screenprint ‘Snape Maltings Concert Hall’ was based, £11,500
43. Welsh Lake (LynTeifi), 1989, a rare tapestry in Karakul wool, the signature and edition number 'John Piper 7/8' woven into the hem below the design, 152.5 x 213.5 cms. Produced by Ibenstein Weavers, Dordabis, Namibia. LlynTeifi is the largest of a group of six pools and reservoirs which lie at about 1,500 ft (455 meters) above sea level on the western edge of the Cambrian Mountains.The nearest village is Pontrhydfendigaid which is close to ruins of the Cistercian abbey of Strata Florida. £4,500
46
45. Llangloffan, (Pembrokeshire), 1971, original print, signed, £550
44. The Glyders (Snowdonia), 1960, original cotton fabric designed for Sandersons, £650
IrishTownscape, 1938, signed original ink and gouache, £1,250
France & Venice
47 Petit Palais:Yellow &Yellow, (Gironde), 1973, limited edition screenprint, no. 2 of only 25, £2,250
48 Besse, Dordogne, 1968, limited edition screenprint, no 55 of 70, £1,750
49. St Amand-de-Coly, Dordogne, 1968, limited edition screenprint, no. 63 of 70, £1,750
50. St Germain-de-L'Ivret (Normandy), 1983, limited edition screenprint, no. 55 of 75, £2,000
51. St Simon-de-Pelouaille, Charente, 1986. limited edition screenprint, no. 58 of 70, £1,750
52. Death inVenice III, 1973, limited edition screenprint, no. 45 of 70, £2,750
53. Death inVeniceVI, 1973, a screenprint in a limited edition of 70, the number to the rear of the print, £2,250
54.Venice Composition, 1973, limited edition screenprint, no. 15 of 100, £3,250
John Piper & Herefordshire
Introduction provided and collection generously loaned by Hugh Fowler-Wright, a John Piper expert and dedicated collector, author of ‘Piper in Print’, 2010 and co-author of ’The Art of John Piper’, 2016.
By the mid 1930s John Piperwas essentially an abstract painter in a relatively small group of British artists – the 7&5 Group –which included Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Ivon Hitchins He sought to nourish this art style – Abstraction – with British ingredients He had done this by spending much time exploring the coast, especially the south coast, recording and incorporating what he termedThe Nautical Style into his art – the colours, structures and landscape of the coastal zone where land, sea and sky meet. He also sought to see for himself British examples of early sculpture and stained glass to add into his visual influences.
To this end Piper and his future wife Myfanwy Evans visited essentially anywhere that they had read, or been told, had early carvings or medieval stained glass.This included Cornwall, Cumbria, Devon, Dorset, Kent, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Rutland, Wiltshire andYorkshire.
On Saturday 18th April 1936 they arrived in Herefordshire in an old Lancia with a tent, a box camera, paraffinTilley lamp, bucket and sponge to record the wealth of Romanesque sculpture.The sponge was to dampen some of the carvings to improve the contrast when photographing.They certainly visited Bromyard, Brinsop, Castle Frome, Cloddock, Eardisley, Hereford, Kilpeck, Leominster, Moccas, Rowlestone, Shobdon andYatton specifically to record the early carvings.They also went to Credenhill, Eaton Bishop, Madley and Moccas to view the mediaeval stained glass.
Piper saw references in these early carvings to expressions of pure abstraction as well as surrealism:
“I thought those sort of details were neglected, and they were the foundations of much of modern art, or could be”
Hereford Cathedral tapestries depicting theTree of Life, theTree of Knowledge, and the Deposition
“Many a Picasso-like profile is to be found on twelfth-century fonts and capitals.”
Images and descriptions of early carvings in Herefordshire appeared in Piper’s article in the Architectural Review of October 1936 titled: ‘England’s Lost Sculptors’.
The profound and fundamental influence of all these early carvings and stained glass on Piper can be seen in much of his art of the following 50 years.
During WWII Piperwas commissioned to record bomb damaged buildings He realised there was an opportunity to influence and inspire the artists and crafts people he hoped would be employed in the rebuilding and re-construction of the bomb damaged churches So he arranged an exhibition titled ‘The Artist andThe Church’ which opened at Chichester Cathedral and then toured to seven more cathedrals during 1943/4. In this exhibition he was trying to show how good examples of existing art and sculpture in churches could be used to stimulate and inform new work, so he included some of his 1936 photographs taken of the Romanesque carvings at Castle Frome and Rowlestone.
Piper repeatedly revisited many of these Herefordshire locations until his death in 1992 and certainly also painted at Acton Beauchamp, Blakemere, Canon Pyon, Garway, in the GoldenValley, Hergest Court, Hoarwithy, Kinnersley, Kinsham, Lower Brockhampton, Llanwarne, Longtown, Nun Upton, Orcop and Ross on Wye.
In the late 1940s Piper felt that designing for the theatre had taken him away from his fine art work for too long. So he looked again at Romanesque sculpture which he then used as a subject to offset with flowers and vegetation in an abstracted manner.This formed a 1951 Leicester Galleries show he called ‘Stones & Flowers’ and contained two important large oils of Shobdon and Rowlestone both celebrating their Romanesque work.This was to lead directly to his first stained glass commission at Oundle school chapel in 1954 which quickly invoked a slew of major stained glass commissions.
The 1955 Shell Guide to Herefordshire written by DavidVerey has some evocative Piper photographs, as do many other Shell Guides Piper compiled or co-edited
Piper inevitably knew people in the county and of particular relevance is his friendship with Kenneth Lindley the Principal of Hereford College of Art (1971 to 1986). Lindley was also an artist, wood engraver and compiler of books and shared many of Piper’s passions and influences.
In 1976 Kenneth Lindley helped select and hang an exhibition of 20 John Piperworks in Hereford Cathedral. He told Piper about the Friends of Herefordshire Museum and Arts (FHMA) and how he was making a brochure to describe their activity. Piper offered an image of some of the corbels at Kilpeck to go on the brochure for the relaunch of the Friends at Croft Castle in March 1977. Lord Croft asked if the corbels image could be made as a print to further raise FHMA funds and Piper readily agreed.
Piper’s main accessible county works are the three tapestries hanging in the south transept of Hereford Cathedral to mark 1300 years (1976) of Christian worship there.They represent three trees of Christian faith including the Deposition where Christ is taken down from the Cross. Piper’s tapestry image was directly inspired by a 12th Century carving at the Externsteine, near Detmold, Germany. So Piper brings an image drawn from some German Romanesque carvings back to where so much British Romanesque carving had so importantly infused his early art 40 years before.
Rowlestone:Tympanum with Hanging Lamp, 1965, print
In the very early 1950s JP returned to bedrocks of his art - the Old Masters and Romanesque carvings following what he considered too much immersion in theatre design ie away from his ‘fountainhead’ of fine art. He made ‘variations’ of Old Masters and again visited Shobdon and Rowlestone to directly nourish his art. In 1965 he teamed up with WR Royle and Sons Ltd to try out a new process - electronic colour scanning –that had recently become commercially available. He offered Royle the image of a 1951 painting based upon a carving he had photographed in April 1936 for an article on England’s early sculptors that appeared in the Architectural Review that year In Piper’s collage he placed one of Kilpeck’s paraffin lamps as a foreground device and as a reference to his own Tilley lamp that he carried to help illuminate the often poorlyilluminated carvings in these remote rural churches Piper’s home-made marbled paper appears both as components of the lamp and as sections of the carving.
Of this twelfth century carving Piperwrote:
“Here a sustained line is used in a most subtle way to charge a design which is at once rhythmical and rigid – as if the Christ enthroned is both a seated, immovable Majesty and a flowing abundant Life. Not again until Blake did this especially English genius show itself so well: this genius for making a line at once create a shape and enrich it with meaning as part of a whole design . . . ”
Hoarwithy and Kinnersley, 1971, ink, crayon & watercolour
Both sketched on the same day 22/9/71 were likely made when visiting Kenneth Lindley the Principal of Hereford College of Art (1971 until 1986). Lindley was also an artist, wood engraver and compiler of books and shared many of John Piper’s passions and influences such as the impact of man on the landscape be it a Neolithic barrow or an old farm gate, remnants of Industrial archaeology, pieces of coastal architecture or a Welsh Chapel.
Corbels at Kilpeck, 1976, screen-print
Kenneth Lindley (Principle of Hereford College of Art 1971 to 1986) told John Piper about the Friends of Herefordshire Museums and Arts and how he was making a brochure to describe the FHMA. Piper offered this image where he picks out six of the exotic heads from Kilpeck’s famous corbel table and conveys something of their primitiveness through his caricature white drawings on a deep maroon background. The original composition of six heads did not look quite right so Piper repeated versions of two of the corbels to extend themimage horizontally At a subsequent relaunch held at Croft Castle in March 1977 Lord Croft asked Piper if it could be made into a print to raise further funds to which Piper willingly agreed. Piper suggested head scarves could be made although this never seems to have happened.
Kilpeck, Herefordshire: the Norman south door, 1964, lithograph
One of 24 lithographs of churches John Piper created for ‘The Retrospect of Churches’ portfolio.This was a high water mark in Piper’s experiments in the print medium, assisted, encouraged and stimulated to “boot the technique” by master printer Stanley Jones. Jones was everwilling to try or adapt any experimental effect Piper proposed Mourlot’s recent catalogue of Picasso’s lithographs was a strong incentive to Piper, a lifelong admirer of Picasso, to try even harder to push at printing’s boundaries for extra visual and textural effects. ‘Retrospect’ has a John Betjeman Foreword‘ which amply sets out the treasures to be witnessed in over 20,000 churches in Britain alongsidePiper’s ‘distillation of half a century’s looking at churches’
“They represent the whole range of local history in glass and stone and wood.’
Piper’s lithographic portrayal of Kilpeck’s famous elaborately carved Norman doorway puts the emphasis back on to the colour of the stone, the solidity of the construction and the age of the structure.There are allusions to the old hinges on the door and more importantly to theTree of Life tympanum and its heavily motifed surrounds, yet Piper makes the viewer look, and think, beyond these overt visual delights
Your paragraph text Orcop Church, Herefordshire
The Shell Guide to Herefordshire by DavidVerey, which John Piper edited, says of Orcop: “Undulating country with small fields and hairy hedges.The church is rather dull because it has been so drastically restored.There is nothing much else.”
This is a somewhat unkind summary of this scattered settlement which has the remains of a motte and bailey castle as a reminder of the centuries when it was part of a disputed borderland First between the Romans and the Welsh tribes and then between the Normans and the Welsh The area also has an historic reputation forwitches The church on rising ground has traces of its Norman builders The internal fabric may have had the attention of wellmeaningVictorian restorers but the outside clearly caught John Piper’s eye, and inspired his experienced hand.
John Piper first explored and recorded Herefordshire in April 1936 when seeking out to record early stained glass and Romanesque sculpture, visiting Kilpeck some 5 miles from Orcop. He subsequently revisited the county many times and was friends with Kenneth Lindley who in 1973 was the Principal of Hereford Art College.
This attractive 1973 mixed media painting is typical of John Piper’s early 1970s works made for sale through Marlborough Fine Art who had represented him from 1963. The church sits squarely within the composition where some sunlight picks
44. Orcop Church, Herefordshire, 1973, original and signed watercolour, gouache and ink, £15,500
up on the lighter pink tones of sandstone used to build the nave and chancel This contrasts with the darkerWelsh slate roof and weathered timbers of the distinctive bell tower A scattering of grey slab gravestones serves to give a fore-ground and dark green trees and vegetation act to frame the church below a few squiggles enlivening the otherwise brooding sky.
The ‘formula’ used for composition and technique may appear straight forward and typical of John Piperyet they are carried out with deft confidence stemming from years of observing how buildings sit within their landscapes and understanding the key elements that make any building unique. Piper deliberately depicts a fluid sky tomcontrast, and thereby emphasise, the solidity of the church structure.
And looking over the exhibition is Myfanwy Piper, sculpted by Geoffrey Eastop
We would like to extend our gratitude to Hugh Fowler-Wright for his invaluable contribution to our exhibition, especially the loan of his extraordinary collection of ceramics and the breathtaking Sunflowers tapestry. His insightful talk at the PrivateView provided a deeper appreciation of Piper's work and connections to the county. With special thanks to...
This exhibition was made possible by the generosity of Peta and Ivo Darnley, ably assisted by the Team, the boys, the girlfriends and the dogs.The beautiful gardens at Netherwood Manorwere open during the exhibition.The estate offers accommodation and lifestyle masterclasses: https//www.netherwoodestate.co.uk
Richard Turkington and Kate Joyner are Fifties Art, we specialise in mid-century art and the works of John Piper.
For more information concerning any of these artworks from our extensive John Piper collection:
Email: richard@fiftiesart.com
Tel: 07714 10636
View more works at: fiftiesart.com
Cover image: Holdenby, (Northamptonshire), 1978
Catalogue designed by Kate Joyner