Augustus John, O.M., R.A.

Hugh Blaker;
Leicester Galleries, London, where bought by Sir David Scott in 1985 for £21

STRUCTURE The work is on wove paper which has not been laid down. The sheet is attached to the mount by two pieces of tape in the upper left and right corners. The sheet undulates across the surface. SURFACE There are traces of dirt across the surface of the sheet. The sheet appears to be light stained. FRAME Held under glass and within a cream mount in a simple rectilinear wooden frame.
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'Satyrs were imaginary creatures, half goat and half man. Here the family is seen playing beside the sea on some Greek island with a Greek ship in the background. This little sketch, done with the superb ease and certainty characteristic of John, always has for me a delightful romantic quality.' Sir David Scott

Augustus John was an extraordinarily prolific draughtsman. Even following his studio sales in 1962 and 1963, the National Gallery of Wales, which acquired the remainder of his studio, found at least a thousand sketches remaining.  Whereas many of his finished paintings suffered from continual re-working over the years, his sketches often possess a spontaneous character and inspiration that many of his oils lack.  John liked to call such drawings "studies" rather than sketches, and rarely inscribed them with details, such as the name of the sitter or the final subject he had in mind.

The present drawing is typical of such a study. The highly classical subject shows his own admiration for and knowledge of works by the great Old Master painters from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The first owner of this drawing was Hugh Blaker (1873-1936) a  painter, writer, actor and progressive museum curator of the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. Blaker was a great admirer of John's work and in 1916 he published The Drawings of Augustus John.