Piper, John

Date: 1903-1992

John Egerton Christmas Piper was an English painter and printmaker; he designed everything from stained-glass windows to theatre and opera sets. Piper also created tapestries, book jackets, screen-prints, photography and ceramics. Primarily, his art focused on churches and monuments, specialising on the British landscape.

Before becoming an official war artist in the Second World War, Piper trained at the Richmond School of Art and the Royal College of Art in London. He was persuaded to become a war artist by Sir Kenneth Clark, serving between 1940 – 1944. During the war, Piper created his first painting, which was of the bombed Coventry Cathedral. He then painted many more artworks of ruined churches in Bristol, Bath, London and Newport Pagnell.

In later life, Piper focused on different mediums and began working in stained-glass, and furnishing fabric. He also started writing about modern art in books and articles.

The University Art Collection holds three pieces of artwork by John Egerton Christmas Piper.