#augustus john

[collectionstilllife]

Augustus John (British/Welsh, 1878-1961) • Blue Cineraria • c. 1928. • Tate Britain

[random-brushstrokes]

Augustus Edwin John - The Marchesa Casati (1919)

[lascitasdelashoras]

James Joyce with Augustus John, London, 1925-1930

[interventionlullabies]

Augustus John, The Marchesa Casati, 1919

[artgate-blog]

Augustus John

1930

[themaninthegreenshirt]

Now Spring, sweet laxative of Georgian trains, 
Quickens the ink in literary veins, 
The Stately Homes of England ope their doors 
To piping nancy-boys and crashing Bores, 
Where for week-ends the scavengers of letters 
Convene to chew the fat about their betters.... 
Hither flock all the crowd whom love has wrecked 
Of intellectuals without intellect 
And sexless folk whose sexes intersect...

Roy Campbell

Campbell by Augustus John [1925]

[the-cricket-chirps]

Marchesa Luisa Casati

Augustus John, The Marchesa Casati, 1919

Augustus Edwin John, Marchesa Casati, c. 1942

[oldsardens]

Augustus John - Olive Grove, Provence

[thomaswylde]

Iris Tree

[fleursscaptives]

"lady ottoline morrell" by augustus john, oil on canvas, 1919

[rossodimarte]

Augustus John (1878-1961), Portrait of a Gypsy

[collectionstilllife]

Augustus John (British, 1878-1961) • Blue Cinerariac • 1928 • Tate, Britain

[random-brushstrokes]

William Orpen - Augustus John (1899-1900)

[typo1]

Augustus Edwin John

Portrait of Evan Morgan, Viscount Tredegar, Painted circa 1925

[lamarchesacasati]

1919 Augustus John, Portrait of Marchesa Luisa Casati. 

Art Gallery of Ontario.

Augustus John met Casati at a party hosted in Paris by a mutual friend, Maria Ruspoli, and the two became lovers. In his memoirs, John described first meeting her:

"Her bearing, personality and peculiar elegance seemed to throw the rest of the company into the shade... The newcomer wore a tall hat of black velvet, the crown surrounded by an antique gold torque, the gift of D'Annunzio; her enormous eyes, set off by mascara, gleamed beneath a framework of canary coloured curls... She moved around the ballroom with supreme ease, while looking about her with an expression of slightly malicious amusement."

At this time Marchesa Luisa Casati had already bedded a number of famous artists, and had been a subject for many others. Rather than present her in one of the mythological guises other artists had, John chose to try and capture her flamboyant, but at the same time guarded personality. It depicts the Marchesa with fiery red hair, highlighted by a muted background, that might depict a stormy view of the Italian Alps near her home. (x) 

“In February, she met Augustus John at the Duchess of Gramont's (…) a famous painter and womanizer. At the end of dinner, she ordered a painting, and the next day they became lovers. Time for a first, then a second canvas. One might think that Luisa acted with men as with her dresses, she loved them excessively then put them away without further ado. I'm not sure. Her husband, Gabriele, Kees then Augustus, maybe another artist or two. For an independent woman who spent her life in parties and orgies, at a time when the high society had the freest morals possible, her hunting record is rather meager; Luisa was immensely lonely. A woman too extravagant, too delirious to be loved, buying attention, friends with splendid parties, the glances with spectacular outfits and the inspiration of the painters with knocking and stumbling pieces. » (x)

[artgate-blog]

Augustus John

1930