John Piper, Myfanwy Piper
Lives in Art
By Frances Spalding
(Oxford University Press, USA, Hardcover, 9780199567614, 400pp.)
Publication Date: October 2009
Other Editions of This Title: Paperback
Categories: European, History - Modern (Late 19th Century to 1945), Artists, Architects, Photographers
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Description
Drawing on substantial original research, including many interviews with those who had either known or worked with the Pipers, art historian Frances Spalding here provides an exuberant dual biography of John Piper--one of the best loved and capacious English artists--and his wife the librettist Myfanwy Piper, collaborator with Benjamin Britten. Together they stood at the heart of the English cultural landscape of the mid-20th century. Indeed, Spalding's biography sheds new light on the story of British art in the 1930s. In the middle of this decade, the Pipers were at the forefront of avant-garde activities in England, with Myfanwy editing the most advanced art magazine of the day and John working alongside Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, and others. The book also contains a wealth of information on the major commissions of John Piper's lengthy career as well as his work in print-making, stained glass, illustration, theatre design, and fireworks. And it illuminates Myfanwy Piper's collaborations with the composers Benjamin Britten and Alun Hoddinott, and her role as John Betjeman's muse.
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