John Piper C.H. (British, 1903-1992)
Jackfield by Ironbridge, Shropshire
signed 'John Piper' (lower left)
oil on canvas
71.1 x 91.4 cm. (28 x 36 in.)
(unframed)
Footnotes:
Provenance
The Artist's Estate
With Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames
Private Collection, U.K.

Exhibited
Henley-on-Thames, Bohun Gallery, 40 Years of John Piper, 12 April-4 June 2016

Having become a leading British abstract artist in the mid-1930s, John Piper latterly sought to return to a more representational form of art. John Betjeman records that in 1938 he approached Piper to produce a Shell Guide to Oxfordshire, part of a series of guidebooks on the counties of Britain aimed at the car owning tourist. In 1939 Betjeman and Piper began exploring and writing the Shell Guide to Shropshire and, although restricted by the war (publication was delayed until 1951), the artist became well acquainted and fond of the county. The project led Piper back to a childhood interest in architecture, in particular English churches, and he took several photographs, some of which are now in the collection of Tate, including two of St Mary's Church in Jackfield. He also produced several watercolours, which were commended by Betjeman for their accuracy, affection, humour, and feeling for texture and surrounding landscape.

The village of Jackfield played an important role in the industrial revolution and as a pottery with its 'Jackfield Ware', a highly vitrified black earthenware decorated with gold flowers and figures. Jackfield by Ironbridge, Shropshire dates to the late 1970s, a time at which the artist painted a number of large-scale oils, and positions St Mary's Church towards the centre foreground of the composition amidst a vibrant palette and surrounded by the steep wooded landscape.
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