Old Chapel of Hall Farm, Bodnick, Fowey, Cornwall
ClassificationsDRAWINGS
Date1943
Mediumwatercolor, opaque watercolor and ink with blue chalk and graphte pencil on wove paper
Dimensions17 1/8 × 21 3/8 in. (43.5 × 54.3 cm.)
SignedSigned and dated at lower right: John Piper 1943
InscribedSigned and dated at lower right: John Piper 1943
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Bequest of Dr. Alfred Leslie Rowse
Copyright© The Piper Estate / Artists Rights Sciety (ARS), New York / DACS, London
Label TextOld buildings, especially rural and often ruined churches, had interested Piper since childhood. In his art, he approaches these structures much as British Romantic artists approached nature—as repositories for mood and sentiment. This watercolor is one of many that resulted from a trip the artist took to Cornwall in 1943. The ancient chapel emerges from a dark landscape built up with layers of densely applied pigment. The pale stones, though crumbling with age, are tinted with warm grays and tans. They glow against the deep browns and blacks, becoming a metaphor for endurance (2022). Status
Not on viewObject number98.19
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