Augustus John in Dorset

For those interested in 'Utopian' communities and Bohemian artists' colonies, the story of August John and his entourage at Alderney Manor in Dorset remains a fascinating one.

From Augustus John, A Biography, by Michael Holroyd (first edition, 1974):

"...Alderney Manor, a strangely fortified bungalow larger than most houses, that had been built by an eccentric Frenchman. It was set in sixty acres of woodland near the Ringwood Road outside Parkstone in Dorset, included a walled garden, cottage and stables- all for an incredible rent of fifty pounds a year" (p. 384-385).

"Here, in a coach-house converted to a studio, he painted 'Washing Day', 'The Blue Pool', numerous drawings and panels of the children alone or in groups, portraits of the many visitors from Francis Macnamara to Roy Campbell, and studies for the figures in his large decorative groups 'Forza e Amore', 'The Mumpers' and 'Lyric Fantasy'" (p. 393).

"In all his painting, whether landscapes or portraits, he depended upon some instinctive relationship to develop that would take hold of him and guide his brush" (p. 396).

The Blue Pool

Washing Day

Dorelia at Alderney Manor

General

Lyric Fantasy

Portrait of Thomas Hardy

286 Paintings by Augustus John

Portraits (YouTube)

Carrick Hill website

Read the new biography

Michael Holroyd and Margaret Drabble,

 Gothenburg, Sweden

August John in Swanage (Swanage Art Tour)

Michael Holroyd writes (p.90) that Augustus and Gwen John made a visit to Swanage in the Spring of 1899, "the two of them went down to stay at Pevril Tower, a boarding house which Mrs Everett had opened at Swanage ". In the following Spring, 1900, Augustus John went with Charles Conder; they both stayed at "Mrs Everett's boarding house at Swanage" (p.99). Augustus John told Will Rothenstein "The country here is lovely beyond words. Corfe Castle and the neighbourhood would make you mad with painter's cupidity" (Holroyd, 1974, p. 100). When he married Ida, "For their honeymoon, he took his wife to Swanage, and they stayed at Pevril Tower" (p. 108).

The king of Bohemia