Augustus John OM RA (1878-1961), Study of a female nude- possibly for 'The Bathers' (unrealised), Pen and ink on paper, circa 1807, mounted and framed. Measurements 26 x 18.5 (i) cm, framed measurements 46 x 36 cm.

Sticker verso and bill of sale for Abbot and Holder Ltd, Ex. Collection Wyndham T. Vint

Augustus John (1878-1961) was a Welsh painter and etcher from Tenby, an important post-impressionist painter celebrated for his portrait paintings and his technique in sketching oil directly onto the canvas. He studied at the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks, winning the Slade Prize before going on to study further in Paris. He lived a very unorthodox and liberal life, fathering dozens of children and roaming the country almost nomadically with his wife, mistress and their families. John was a highly successful artist, elected RA in 1928, serving as trustee of the Tate 1933-1941, President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters 1948-1953, given Order of Merit by King George VI in 1942 and one of the founders of the New English Art Club. During the First World War he served as a war artist with the Canadian forces which seems to have served as a turning point in his painting; John's early work was predominantly drawings and etchings, but he later became famous for his portraits, as he had an almost psychological insight in his expression, a certain stark truthfulness in his representation of the sitter. By the 1920s Augustus John was the leading portrait painter in Britain, painting many famous persons including Thomas Hardy and Dylan Thomas, however his most critically recognised pieces are those representing members of his own family.