A neo-Romantic and Modernist

Peyton Skipwith considers the work of John Piper (1903–92) and assesses the enduring quality of his romantic vision

- Peyton Skipwith

JOHN PIPER was one of the most diverse and best-loved of English Modern artists. In retrospect, he can be regarded in many ways as a bundle of contradictions, being simultaneously an old-fashioned romantic and an antiquarian with a penchant for the Ballets Russes and avant-garde French painting. The fact that he was able to meld his diverse tastes and interests into a single, albeit multi-faceted, aesthetic is a lasting tribute to his energy and vision and places him as one of the great British polymaths of the 20th century.

As a direct result of his eldest brother being killed in the second battle of Ypres in 1915, Piper was obliged, despite his wish to go to art school, to fill his brother’s place and join the family law firm. This was a career for which he was singularly unsuited and his failure to pass the Law Society’s examination created an impasse that was only resolved by his father’s death in March 1927. Once released from the office, he applied to the Royal College of Art, but was diverted to Richmond School of Art for a year to improve his life-drawing skills, before he could be admitted.

Having finally achieved entry to the Royal College, he only remained for four terms, as his insistence on marrying Eileen Holding, a fellow student from Richmond, was in contravention of its rules. Thus, in his late twenties and without formal qualifications, he launched on his professional career, supplementing his income with journalism, a practice he kept up throughout his life.