John Piper

Piper was perhaps best known for his depictions of English architecture. He was fascinated with historical buildings from an early age but it was during the Second World War, when the artist was commissioned by the War Artists Advisory Committee, that he began to employ a more sombre palette to his painting. Tasked with recording culturally significant buildings (including bomb-damaged ruins of churches and cathedrals), Piper’s landscapes became imbued with a substantial emotional connection, as he reflected on the loss of these notable icons of English heritage. Cathedral Square shares this powerful, atmospheric quality. Painted soon after the war ended, this small-scale oil captures the grandeur of the cathedral architecture: its dominating façade fills the height of the canvas, seemingly glowing against the threatening sky which surrounds it.

The subject of this painting has been
identified as the St Mary’s Bell Tower situated within the village of West Walton, North Norfolk. This became
a favoured building for the artist (and also John Sell Cotman, an
artist whose work was known to influence Piper’s practice). We are grateful to Rev. Dr. Stephen Laird FSA for his assistance with cataloguing.