John’s work combined technical brilliance with a bold, vigorous style that conveyed psychological intensity. His portraits, in particular, gained him a reputation as one of the most gifted portraitists of his generation, depicting writers, politicians and cultural figures with penetrating insight. He was also drawn to romantic and symbolic themes, influenced by French Post-Impressionism and his admiration for Rembrandt.
Equally significant was his fascination with Gypsy and travelling communities, which inspired both his art and his unconventional personal life. John painted murals, landscapes and mythological subjects, yet it was his portraiture that secured his standing.
By the 1920s, he was widely regarded as the leading British portrait painter, rivalled only by contemporaries such as William Orpen. His sitters included T. E. Lawrence, W. B. Yeats and Dylan Thomas, among many others. Though his later reputation waned, John remains a central figure in the story of modern British art, embodying both the brilliance and excesses of the Edwardian avant-garde.
AUGUSTUS JOHN (1878-1961)
Head of a Girl (Edie McNeill)
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Dorelia in a hat
AUGUSTUS EDWIN JOHN, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
An Afternoon in Dorset
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Dorelia
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Study of Dorelia standing
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Poppet, the artist's daughter, in a black hat
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Ida with baby
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Dorelia standing, her left arm raised above her head
AUGUSTUS JOHN, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Vivien Leigh
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
The Arenig Fach
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Dorelia in a red hat, in front of a prickly pear
AUGUSTUS JOHN, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Olive Grove, Provence
AUGUSTUS JOHN, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Head of James Joyce
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
The Fairy Tale
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Dorelia in a Rockpool
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Dorelia in a green dress and a red scarf on a hillside
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Renvyle, Co. Galway
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of a Gypsy
AUGUSTUS JOHN, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Ida in a Shawl
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
The Estuary of Mawddach
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Poppet
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Study for an Undine
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Female nude seated
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Iris Tree
AUGUSTUS JOHN, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Dorelia standing, with green head scarf
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Dorelia
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Self-Portrait
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A.,(1878-1961)
Dorelia resting
AUGUSTUS JOHN, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Two Jamaican girls
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of a lady
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (British, 1878-1961)
Portrait of Princess Antoine Bibesco
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Head of Dorelia
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Étang de Berre
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Self-portrait
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Female nude
Augustus Edwin John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Dorelia, wearing a head-scarf
AUGUSTUS JOHN, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Mary McEvoy
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Étang de Berre
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Dorelia
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Nellie
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Dorelia Seated
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Robin
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Dorelia
Augustus John, O.M., R.A. (1878-1961)
Portrait of Jessie McNeill