John Downton (English artist)
- John Downton (English artist)
Infobox Artist
name =John Downton
imagesize =
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birthname =
birthdate =1906
location =
deathdate =1991
deathplace =
nationality =English
field =paintings, drawings
training =The Slade
movement =
works =
patrons =
influenced by =
influenced =
awards =
John Downton (1906-1991) was an English artist, philosopher, musician, and poet.
Born at Erith in Kent, Downton drew well from an early age. At age fifteen he won the youth silver medal of the Royal Drawing Society. He was educated at Cambridge University (1925-1928), first in English and then in Art History, and then trained as a painter at the Slade. Downton played the violin all his life, was often invited to give performances, and always participated in the fortnight-long Grittleton Summer School of Music in Malvern. He also wrote books, such as "The Death of Art" (1937) and "Craftsmanship, Art and Criticism" (1993). But it is his paintings for which he is now chiefly remembered. His main subject was young girlhood, rendered in the manner of the Italian old masters and with the tempera technique that had been revived by the Birmingham Group. Both his subject matter and his techniques were deeply unfashionable during most of his adult life, and he ceased to exhibit after the start of the Second World War. He never married, and lived mostly at Cambridge. On his death, all his work passed to The Downton Trust.
A major retrospective exhibition and catalogue was produced in 1996, and the exhibition toured the UK. His three main masterpieces are: "The Battle" (1935, now in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery); "Portrait of a Girl" (1938, now in The Tate); "Nora Russell" (1935, location unknown).
There is an annual John Downton Award for Young Artists, given to those attending secondary schools in the county of Kent.
Books by John Downton
*"The Death of Art: Incorporating Notes on Philosophy and Ethics" (1937, 1995).
*"Craftsmanship, Art and Criticism" (1993).
*"Philosophical Notes" (1993).
*"Reflections on Violin Playing" (1994).
*"Poems" (1995).
Further reading
*Wootton, David. "John Downton 1906-1991: Temperas and Drawings". Maas Gallery, 1996
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