John Piper (1903-1992)
Study for the Piper Building Mural
Gouache
24 x 20 cm

Provenance: Bernard Kelly Collection

John Piper CH was an English painter, printmaker, and designer of stained-glass windows. His work often focused on the British landscape, especially churches and monuments, and included tapestry designs, book jackets, screen-prints, photography, fabrics and ceramics.

This study forms a striking a part of London’s architectural history. It was originally produced by Piper as a study for a larger mural in the Piper Building. Although the abstraction of this painting is, in itself, striking, the pinkish hues and ethereal shapes almost recall Monet’s hazy views over the Thames.

The Piper Building is a mid-century architectural icon in Fulham. Built in the 1950s as ‘Watson House’, it was a laboratory complex for the North Thames Gas Board and has an innovative concrete structure. Piper was commissioned to produce the murals surrounding the building. The Gas Board moved out in the mid 1980s. Scheduled for demolition in the 1990s, the building was instead converted into seventy apartments and renamed the Piper Building. With double-height ceilings, the apartments were sold as shells, and purchasers were free to commission their own architects and builders.

Condition: Generally excellent; framed.

For other works by the artist and biographical details, click here.

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