Old Scotney Castle
John Piper (Epsom 1903 – Henley-on-Thames 1992)
Category
Art / Drawings and watercolours
Date
1976
Materials
Glass, Paper, Wood
Measurements
440 x 560 mm
Order this imageCollection
Scotney Castle, Kent
NT 790563
Summary
John Piper, C.H.. Old Castle, oil paint, pastels and watercolour on paper in a modern gilt cavetto frame, blackened in hollow; grey card window mount.
Full description
This is one of the last drawings of the Old Castle at Scotney that John Piper undertook and was drawn in 1976 after the death of his friend, Christopher Hussey. Piper has carefully described the architecture of the distinctive Ashburnham Tower in pen and ink before going over this with watercolour, oil paint and pastel. Areas of the underlying paper have been left unpainted to describe the stone of the building and reflections in the surrounding moat. As with Piper’s first painting of the Old Castle, probably painted in 1946, Piper primarily has used a muted palette of grey and green. However, in this drawing, the Old Castle is surrounded by exuberant foliage that is described by piper using an almost calligraphic style indicating it may have been undertaken in either the spring or summer. Scotney Castle has the largest collection of works by the important British modern artist John Piper (1903-1992). Piper, is associated with the Neo-Romantic artists whose work influenced modern British art from the late 1930s through the 1950s. The Neo-Romantic artists took many of their subjects from traditional art – such as landscape painting – and were influenced by the work of British painters such as William Blake (1757-1827) and Samuel Palmer (1805-1881). However, in their use of colour and abstract form they were also influenced by Modern, European artists such as the Cubists. John Piper and his wife Myfanwy (who wrote some of the libretti for Benjamin Britten’s operas), were good friends with Christopher and Betty Hussey. John Piper had been previously aware of Christopher’s writing. As a student, Piper owned a copy of Christopher’s first publication The Picturesque: Studies in a Point of View, 1927, which would have an influence on the development of Piper’s painting style. However, the start of the friendship between Hussey and Piper really only occurred in 1945, when Christopher wrote a review in Country Life magazine of an exhibition of Piper’s works inspired by Sir Osbert Sitwell’s Renishaw Hall, in Derbyshire. Piper wrote to Christopher thanking him for the positive review of the work. And, in return, Christopher wrote back inviting John and his wife Myfanwy to stay with him and Betty at Scotney in the Belfry flat (this was before Christopher had inherited Scotney in 1950). Over a friendship that would last 25 years, 8 works of art by Piper entered the collections at Scotney Castle. In addition, there are numerous publications and exhibition catalogues in the Hussey’s library – some with dedications by the artist to Christopher and Betty. The correspondence between Christopher and John and Betty and Myfanwy also partially survives, with 27 letters in the archives at Tate Britain addressed to the Pipers from the Husseys and with a much, much smaller number surviving from the Pipers to the Husseys at Scotney Castle.
Makers and roles
John Piper (Epsom 1903 – Henley-on-Thames 1992), artist