Augustus Edwin John was born Tenby, Pembrokeshire. Painter, draughtsman and etcher, specialized in portrait painting. Famous subjects include T.E. Lawrence, Thomas Hardy, George Bernard Shaw and Dylan Thomas.
Named to the Order of Merit in 1942. President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1948-1953. Died Fordingbridge, Hampshire.
Caitlin, later Thomas's wife, described how an invitation to sit for John led to rape and an ongoing abusive relationship.
John's 1937 portrait of Dylan Thomas is widely accepted as his last great painting. Even his granddaughter acknowledges that his work "went down the drain" from the 1930s onward.
Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk
Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them