Piper’s attitude was that of a painter — impulsive, intolerant of technical limitations and extreme in colour. As with the making of stained glass and screenprints, his designs set a challenge to his collaborator, which he was left free to interpret.

(1903 - 1992)

John Piper.

John Egerton Christmas Piper CH, was an English painter, printmaker and designer of stained-glass windows and both opera and theatre sets. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics. He was educated at Epsom College and trained at the Richmond School of Art followed by the Royal College of Art in London. He turned from abstraction early in his career, concentrating on a more naturalistic but distinctive approach, but often worked in several different styles throughout his career.

Piper was an official war artist in World War II and his wartime depictions of bomb-damaged churches and landmarks, most notably those of Coventry Cathedral, made Piper a household name and led to his work being acquired by several public collections. Piper collaborated with many others, including the poets John Betjeman and Geoffrey Grigson on the Shell Guides, the potter Geoffrey Eastop and the artist Ben Nicholson. In his later years he produced many limited-edition prints.

John Piper CH LG, Mocha
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John Piper CH LG, Mocha
£1,800.00

John Piper and Benjamin Britten enjoyed a close creative collaboration for over a quarter of a century. Piper, a foremost artist of his generation designed the stage sets for several of Brittens’ operas, starting in 1947 with The Rape of Lucretia. Britten’s very last opera, Death in Venice, is the subject of one of Pipers’ most beautiful paintings which Britten bought for Peter Pears as a Christmas present and it still hangs in their joint home, The Red House, here in Aldeburgh.

John Piper's oeuvre includes textiles, photography, original prints as well as some exquisite ceramics made with the Fulham Pottery in 1982.

Ceramic with Fulham Pottery, 1982

27 x 37 cm

Signed verso

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