Augustus John

the long version

This volume is a biography of Welsh painter Augustus John (1878-1961). In the early part of the 1900s, he was an important practitioner of Post-Impressionism in the United Kingdom. By the age of 20 he had won a reputation for his brilliant drawing technique. Here he soon emerged as a bohemian figure as well as a highly gifted artist. The need to support Ida Nettleship (1877-1907), whom he married in 1901, led him to accept a post teaching art at the University of Liverpool. John Sampson, then University Librarian and an acknowledged expert on gypsies, became a friend and a major influence on him, introducing him to the Romany language and way of life. This led him to spend periods traveling with his growing family in gypsy caravans through Wales and England and inspired much of his work before World War I, including a series of etchings depicting gypsy life. He is best known for his portraits of leading European personalities, including those of James Joyce and George Bernard Shaw.