JOHN PIPER, C.H., (1903-1992)
Aberayron, South Wales
signed John Piper (lower right)
ink and gouache
24 x 34 cm (9 1/4 x 13 3/4 in)

PROVENANCE:
with Achim Moeller, London

Between 1930s and 1950s Piper produced a number of lively ‘on the spot’ collages, atmospheric photographs and rugged mixed media depictions of Aberayron. Here Piper looks across at the cluster of buildings on the northern side of the harbour with the harbour walls turning a corner in the lower left of the picture and the water in the foreground referenced by cursory white squiggles. A splash of blue top left indicates the roof of the old Harbourmaster’s House, now a hotel, and the top right shows the apex of the Tabernacle Chapel on Market Street.

In 1954 Piper was actively working on his first stained glass commission for Oundle School Chapel and in this fully worked up sketch, thoughts of stained glass influence Piper’s focus on slabs of colour, blocks of building and ‘lead’ lines. This style of painting was to develop in the following few years to much larger abstracted landscapes – including buildings – composed of carefully balanced areas of colour and tone in flat perspective grid-like surfaces.

We are grateful to Hugh-Fowler Wright for the assistance in the preparation of this catalogue entry.