JOHN, AUGUSTUS (EDWIN)

born Jan. 4, 1878, Tenby, Pembrokeshire, Wales died Oct. 31, 1961, Fordingbridge, Hampshire, Eng. Welsh painter, an accomplished portraitist, muralist, and draughtsman. John studied at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1894 to 1898. By the age of 20 he had won a reputation as one of the most brilliant draughtsmen in England. His portraits and other paintings done around 1900 gained attention for the vigour and originality of their approach and technique. He enjoyed a wide reputation as an artist by 1910. A colourful personality, John adopted a highly individualistic and bohemian lifestyle; he roamed over Wales, Ireland, and Dorset, living with gypsies and learning their customs and language. The painting Encampment on Dartmoor (1906; private collection) is based on these experiences. After World War I John's creative vitality declined even as his reputation continued to grow. He painted portraits of many of the leading personalities of Europe in a slick and somewhat superficial style, occasionally recapturing in such works his former boldness and integrity of form. His most significant portraits include the strong and sensuous Smiling Woman (c. 1908; Tate Gallery, London), a portrait of his second wife, Dorelia, and those of James Joyce, G.B. Shaw, cellist Mme Suggia, and poet Dylan Thomas. Augustus John: A Biography, by Michael Holroyd, was published in 197475.