Augustus John O.M. R.A.

Cardiff, National Museum and Gallery and London, Spink & Son Ltd. and Conway, Royal Cambrian Academy, Themes and Variations - The Drawings of Augustus John 1901-1931, 9 September - 1 December 1996, no. 1 

STRUCTURE The work is on wove paper. The sheet is sealed inside the mount so it is difficult to determine whether or not it is laid down. There are a few light scratches in the lower left quadrant of the sheet but these are covered by brown washes suggesting the abrasions are the work of the artist. SURFACE Apart from the abrasions mentioned above, the surface of the sheet is in good overall condition. ULTRAVIOLET UV light reveals no sign of retouching. FRAME Held under glass and presented within a cream mount in a simple wooden rectilinear frame.
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'My "Family of Satyrs" and the illustration to Omar Khayyam... are very early drawings... and good examples.'

'John did a number of illustrations to Omar Khayyam. This one illustrates the lines: 

'Here, with a loaf of bread beneath the bough, 
A flask of wine, a book of verse - and thou
Beside me singing in the wilderness
And wilderness is paradise now

Even in a slight thing like this you can see how sure the sweep of his brush is and how masterly his line.' Sir David Scott

John painted this watercolour for a Romany translation of the Rubiayat by John Sampson in 1901. A similar watercolour study for the frontispiece is in the collection of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery in Bedford.