Rocky Landscape
John Piper (Epsom 1903 – Henley-on-Thames 1992)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
1923 - 1992
Materials
Watercolour on paper
Measurements
508 x 425 mm
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Mottisfont, Hampshire
NT 769735
Summary
Watercolour on paper, Rocky Landscape by John Piper (Epsom 1903 – Henley-on-Thames 1992)
Full description
Watercolour on paper, Rocky Landscape by John Piper (Epsom 1903 – Henley-on-Thames 1992) By the time John Piper joined the London Group in 1933, many leading British artists were exploring abstract art. His paintings, prints and stained glass designs proposed alternatives, although abstract art would always inform his work. Landscape became Piper’s main focus. He was appointed Official War Artist during the Second World War, recording the effects of German bombing raids. Even scenes that do not picture the destruction of the war seem to reflect its context. They have an urgent, scratchy quality, and a sense of drama and darkness. Here, the composition flows down through the rocks with a movement that is deliberately destabilising. This landscape, carved by water and rocks, can be seen as a metaphor for the wider damage of war.
Provenance
Presented by Derek Hill (1916 - 2000) through The National Art Collections Fund (Art Fund) in 1996
Credit line
Mottisfont Abbey,The Derek Hill Collection (presented to the National Trust through the National Art-Collections Fund in 1996)
Makers and roles
John Piper (Epsom 1903 – Henley-on-Thames 1992), artist