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FLAMBOYANT bohemian artist Augustus John was recognised first for his brilliant figure drawings, and then for a new technique of oil sketching.
His work was favourably compared in London with that of Gauguin and Matisse.
And now to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Pembrokeshire-born painter’s death, events are taking place to celebrating the work of one of Wales’s most prominent artists.
John developed a style of portraiture that was imaginative and often extravagant, catching an instantaneous attitude in his subjects. And in recognition of this, award-winning television director Tristan de Vere Cole – supposedly one of John’s many illegitimate children – was the keynote speaker at a special evening this week organised by Chapters, the National Library of Wales’ patron scheme entitled Augustus John: A Personal Reminiscence.
The Tristan de Vere Cole Manuscripts, which consist of letters and related papers relating to Augustus John and his wife and subject Dorelia McNeill are housed at the National Library of Wales.
A spokesman for the National Library said: “Considered one of the most talented artists of his generation, John was well known in the early 20th century for his drawings and etchings.
“However, the bulk of his later work consisted of portraits, and he painted many distinguished contemporaries such as TE Lawrence, Thomas Hardy and WB Yeats.”
Born in Tenby in 1878, Augustus Edwin John was the third of four children in the John family.
He attended the Slade School of Art in London between 1894-99, and was joined there a year later by his older sister Gwen.
The pair shared lodgings during their time at the school.
In 1897, John suffered a serious head injury while diving into the sea which led to a change in his character, and critics have argued, resulted in the stimulation of his artistic growth.
In 1900 John married Ida Nettleship and they had five children together.
Ida died tragically young aged 30 in 1907 and he soon after married long time mistress Dorothy “Dorelia” McNeill.
The artist enjoyed a bohemian lifestyle, and was deeply influenced by the Romany tradition, lifestyle and language; he spent time travelling with gypsy caravans in Wales, Dorset and Ireland.
He led a promiscuous lifestyle, entertaining many affairs and expanding his celebrity circle of friends. It was rumoured that he’d fathered 100 children.
The National Portrait Gallery in London has also marked the 50th anniversary of the death of John with a new display of portraits of the artist.
A spokesman for the gallery said: “He was regarded as an outstanding painter and a brilliant draughtsman.
“He was associated with the New English Art Club and the Camden Town Group but remained largely independent from artistic trends and movements.
“By the 1920s he was the leading portraitist of his day whose sitters included many of his most distinguished contemporaries such as George Bernard Shaw and TE Lawrence. Alongside these achievements his lifestyle epitomised that of the bohemian artist, a reputation bolstered by his fascination with Romany culture.”
Though well known and celebrated in the earlier part of his career for his brilliant figure drawings and oil sketching, by the 1920s Augustus was the leading society portrait artist in Britain.
He lived out the last years of his life with McNeill in Dorset, having travelled widely in his lifetime to Europe, America and Jamaica.
And The King of Bohemia died in 1961 at the age of 83.
The portraits on display at the National Gallery draw from its own collection and include photographs by Alvin Coburn, Howard Coster, Bill Brandt, Yousuf Karsh, Norman Parkinson, Ida Kar and Cecil Beaton.
The exhibition spans John’s life and charts his early career, relationships, his fascination with Romany culture and his success and reputation as an artist.
A spokesman for the gallery added: “John was really the domesticated Lucian Freud of his day, nine children from his lifelong ménage-a-trois with wife Ida Nettleship and muse Dorelia.”
