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250 Great British people and what made them famous
Who was Augustus John?
Painter and etcher.
Date and Place of Birth:
4th January 1878, Tenby, Pembrokshire, Wales
and christened Augustus Edward.
Family Background:
Third child and son of Edwin William John, a
Solicitor, and Augusta. Brother of Gwen.
Education:
Clifton School. Slade School of Fine Art, London.
Chronology/Biography of Augustus John:
1884: Death
of his mother.
1894: Went to London
to study for four years at the Slade School of Fine Art. His tutors
were Henry Tonks and Frederick Brown. He became known as a gifted
but bohemian student. His sister Gwen, also a talented artist studied
with him at the Slade.
1897: He was seriously
injured in a swimming accident during the summer and during his
convalescence he seems to have advanced his artistic growth.
1898: Won the Slade
Prize with the painting "Moses and the Brazen Serpent".
He then went to Paris on his own and was influenced by Puvis de
Chavannes.
1901: He accepted
a teaching post at the University of Liverpool, to support his girlfriend
and then wife Ida Ida Nettleship. He became friends with the University
Librarian John Sampson who was an expert on the gypsy way of life.
He taught him the Romany language and John, Ida and his mistress
Dorothy (Dorelia) McNeill, and John's children by both women, traveled
around the country in a caravan together.
1906: Birth of his
son Romilly who later became a poet, author and an amateur physicist.
1907: Death of his
wife Ida. Later he moved in with Henry Lamb and Dorelia McNeill
at Alderney Manor near Poole.
1910: John fell
in love with the town of Martigues, in Provence, France near Arles
and Marseilles and his style developed as a postimpressionist.
1912: Birth of his
daughter Poppet.
1914-18: During
World War I he became a war artist to the Canadian forces and painted
many portraits of Canadian infantrymen. As he was officially not
in the forces he was allowed to keep his facial hair. He was commissioned
by Lord Beaverbrook to work on a large scale mural although the
work never got beyond the cartoon stage. After two months in France
John was sent home after being involved in a brawl. Lord Beaverbrook
saved him from a court-martial and sent him back to France. The
only major painting known to have been completed at this time was
called "Fraternity".
1919: John went
to the Versailles Peace Conference and painted portraits of several
of the delegates.
1920s: During this
period he was seen as Britain's leading portrait painter and many
famous people sat for him such as Thomas Hardy,
T. E. Lawrence, George
Bernard Shaw and Tallulah Bankhead. He is most famously known
for painting his compatriot Dylan Thomas,
whom he introduced to Caitlin Macnamara one of his former mistresses
who Thomas was later to marry. He became known for his psychological
insight portraits which some critics described as over flashy. Some
people saw these as cruel and Lord Leverhulme was so upset with
his own portrait that he cut out the head from his painting. An
international outcry ensued when this was discovered.
1921: Elected an
Associate of the Royal Academy.
1925: Had a daughter,
Amaryllis by Ian Fleming's widowed mother, Evelyn Ste Croix Fleming.
1928: At this point
John felt that Provence had lost its charm and he sold his home
there. Elected a full Member of the Royal Academy.
1933: He became
a trustee of the Tate Gallery. (until 1941).
1937: Traveled to Jamaica where his
artistic inspiration returned.
1942: He was awarded
the Order of Merit by King George VI.
1948-1953: Became
President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. (until 1953).
1950s: He was a
pacifist and joined the Peace Pledge Union.
1952: Publication
of the first volume of his autobiography, "Chiaroscuro".
1954: Although his
style was now dated he was revered by the general public and the
Royal Academy mounted a large scale one-man show.
17 September 1961:
Just over a month before his death, he joined the "Committee
of 100's anti-nuclear weapons demonstration" in Trafalgar Square,
London. This was doubly controversial as at the time his son, Admiral
Sir Caspar John was the First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff.
(1964): Posthumous
publication of the second part of his autobiography "Finishing
Touches".
Marriage:
To 1. Ida Nettleship at St. Pancras Register
Office, London. (Died 1907). 2. Dorothy "Dorelia" McNeill.
Places of Interest:
WALES:
Birthplace Museum, Tenby.
Date and Place of Death:
31st October 1961, Fordingbridge, Hampshire,
England.
Age at Death:
83.
Site of Grave:
Town Cemetery, Fordinbridge, Hampshire.
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