24. Augustus John
(1878-1961)
Head of Granger

(click on image to print)
John, Head of Granger

Head of Granger

Etching and drypoint, ca. 1906, 126 x 115 mm. Dodgson 15 ii/ii. Very fine impression with varied plate tone on laid paper with full margins, signed in pencil and inscribed in ink with the title, plate number and impression number from the edition of 25; a pale line of discoloration around the old mat opening. John, Welsh-born and the younger brother of the artist Gwen John, was a man of immense and early-developing artistic ability and Bohemian (really, Gypsy) life style, and the father of innumerable children by many different women, some of them his wives. He is memorable as the finest portrait painter of his generation with the ability to capture not merely a likeness, but a living moment. His considerable etched output is also highlighted by portraits, several superb self-portraits, but also many of friends, family and intimates. They are often remarkable. Stephan Granger was a friend of John’s, possibly an artist himself, and his face had a particular attraction for John, for he etched him a number of times.