John Piper (1903-1992)

John Piper worked as an articled clerk for five years before turning to painting. He studied at Richmond School of Art (1928), and at the Royal College of Art (1928-29). He was a member of the London Group from 1933, and of the 7 & 5 Society, of which he became the Secretary, from 1934 to 1935. His first solo show was at the London Gallery in 1938. During the Second World War he worked for the War Artists’ Advisory Committee, painting scenes of war-damaged churches, and became an Official War Artist in 1944. Among his post-war commissions were a series on Windsor Castle for HM The Queen and one on Renishaw Hall for Sir Osbert Sitwell.

Piper was also a writer on art and architecture. He wrote criticism for The New Statesman and The Listener, and was involved with his second wife Myfanwy Evans on the magazine Axis – A Quarterly Review of Contemporary Painting and Sculpture. His writings for the Architectural Review led to his first guidebook in 1938, and then to his participation in the Recording Britain scheme in 1940. During the 1940s and 1950s he co-edited, with John Betjeman, the Shell Guides to Britain.

Piper also designed extensively for the theatre - in particular for the operas of Benjamin Britten. With Osbert Lancaster he designed the Battersea Pleasure Gardens for the Festival of Britain in 1951. He was a member of the Arts Council (1952-57), a Trustee of the Tate Gallery (1946-61 and 1968-74), and a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission (1960-77). Piper was made a Companion of Honour in 1972.