Park Place, Henley-on-Thames

Artist John Piper (Epsom, England, 1903 - 1992)

Date1941

Mediumoil on canvas attached to panel

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsOverall: Height: 45.8 cm, Width: 61.1 cm
Frame: Height: 59.3 cm, Width: 74.3 cm

AcquisitionPurchased in 1941 with income from the Macdonald Bequest.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG004337

Keywords

About MeIn 1938 the poet Sir John Betjeman was appointed editor of the Shell Guides, the first guides aimed at motorists, directing attention to the pleasures of exploring village churches and other architectural features in the countryside. Betjemin appointed John Piper to write and illustrate the first of the guides, which covered Oxfordshire. Piper lived in rural Oxfordshire near Henley, in the Thames Valley and depicted it often but given the date of this work, it may relate to the drawings Piper made for the guide - in this case a view of the boathouse and decorative stone bridge of a mansion called Park Place, near Henley on Thames, which became Britain's most expensive home, when it was sold in 2007 for £42 million.

In this work and others painted during the war years Piper conveys the dark mood of wartime with his choice of a nighttime scene and use of emotive, brooding colours.

More About Me

Collections Wall

The combination of landscape and architecture and the treatment of light and shade are typical of the work of this prolific English artist.

Exhibitions

Paradise Lost