|
AN OIL PAINTING ON CANVAS BY JOHN ARMSTRONG
AN OIL PAINTING ON CANVAS BY JOHN ARMSTRONG (1893 – 1973)
English , Circa 1952
H. 19 ½ ins. ( 49.5 cm) W. 28 ins. ( 71 cm)
PRICE £ 45,000
XXXX
John Armstrong (1893 – 1973)
Born in Hastings, Sussex, John Armstrong was a painter of imaginative and classical subjects in oil, tempera and gouache. He painted murals, designed film and stage sets, illustrated books and was an advertising designer.
Armstrong s pictures are fastidiously painted in muted colours and are highly symbolic in nature.
He studied at St. John\\\'s Wood School of Art (1913-1914) after completing a degree at Oxford and then fought in The Great War.
Following his first one-man show at Leicester Galleries in 1928 he became a member of the British modern art group, Unit One, in 1933 and exhibited his work in a group show at the Mayor Gallery in 1934.
After Unit One his work became increasingly Surrealist.
Throughout the 1930 s he worked in theatre and films, including the first performance of Frederick Ashton\\\'s Facade and several Alexander Korda films. He also produced work for Shell-Mex and ICI. During the Second World War, he was an official war artist. After the war he continued to exhibit widely, including a show called The Storm for the Festival of Britain in 1955.
Armstrong had strong left-wing political convictions and his painting reflected his views: notably Pro Patria, painted after the Spanish Civil War.
|
