Piper, John: The Castles on the Ground, No. 2

£125.00

This is one of 8 high quality machine-made lithographs commissioned to illustrate the book ‘The Castles on the Ground’, a critique on suburban life written by J.M.Richards and published in 1946.

None of the locations for the lithographs is identified but two likely influences are the houses of Surrey, where John Piper was brought up, and of Cheltenham, which he visited in the 1930s in connection with illustrating the 1939 Shell Guide to Gloucestershire

More images can be provided on request.


Artist: John Piper (British, 1903-1992), none of this set of lithographs was signed


Title and date:  The Castles on the Ground 2, 1946


Size: 19.0 x 11.5 cms newly framed.


Description

Artist description:

Born in Epsom, John Egerton Christmas Piper studied at Richmond School of Art and the Royal College of Art from 1926-8. In the mid 1930a, after a visit to Paris, he turned to abstraction. He became a member of the London Group in 1933 and the ‘Seven and Five’ group in 1934-5. During this period he became friends with Oliver Simon of the Curwen Press and his interest in lithography and print making grew. During the Second World War, Piper was appointed as an official war artist recording the effects of the blitz on Britain’s buildings. After the war, he became a Trustee of the Tate and National Galleries and in 1959 he became a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission. Piper is best known for his extensive studies of British architecture and landscape in oil, watercolour and print, and for his photography, stained glass, ceramics, fabric design, murals, stage sets and costume design. His work is held in many Museums and Galleries.