Lot 186
  • 186

John, Augustus

Estimate
3,000 - 5,000 GBP
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Description

  • Augustus John
  • Corrected typescript autobiography
  • ink on paper
with cancelled titles ("Ups and Downs" and "Now and Then"), portions later published under the title Chiaroscuro, comprising a section entitled Book One in 326 numbered pages with 11 inserts, and additional shorter fragments with reminiscences of places, moments, and people (ranging from Winston Churchill to Aleister Crowley), c.84 pages, autograph corrections and revisions in blue and black ink, altogether c.401 pages, a mixture of top copies and carbon copies, mostly 4to, c.1950s, the main sequence lacking leaves including pp. 2, 4, 37, 65-66, 281-93, 317, and 319

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Augustus John's vivid telling of his extraordinary life takes the form of a largely unstructured series of anecdotes and, after memories of childhood and his time as a student at the Slade (covering some 45 pages), it is largely untroubled by chronology or dating. These are the reminiscences of a natural raconteur: he meets everyone from Oscar Wilde in his final years (with disappointingly short hair) to T.E. Lawrence at the Paris Peace Conference; discusses fellow artists from Picasso to Dora Carrington; pays visits to Yeats in Dublin and Joyce in Paris; finds himself dogged by Frida Strindberg with her unsettling habit of announcing her imminent demise; paints portraits of the Crown Prince Hirohito and the Governor of the Bank of England (whose lofty indifference makes him the perfect sitter); and savours life whether he finds himself in '20s Berlin, a Harlem jazz club, a Provencal village, or a Jamaican beach.