PRESS

INFORMATION

To: News Desk From:

Christine Doyle

Date: Wednesday 11th November 2015 Tel: 07769738180

As the 75th anniversary of the Coventry blitz approaches prints of the two iconic John

Piper paintings go on sale.

Interior of Coventry Cathedral, 15 November 1940

– an image of the painting on display in the Herbert Art Gallery

As part of the commemorations of the 75th anniversary of the Coventry blitz the two iconic

paintings created by John Piper in the days following the bombing are to be reunited and on display

in the Herbert Art Gallery from the 10th November onwards.

To mark this unique event, the Cathedral, working in partnership with the Goldmark Gallery, are

selling limited edition prints of both paintings to raise much needed funds.

“In his role as a war artist, John Piper began painting both pictures in the days following the bombing;

in fact, fires were still burning” explained the Very Reverend John Witcombe, Dean of Coventry,

Coventry Cathedral 15 November 1940

– an image of the painting usually on display in Manchester now at the Herbert Art Gallery for three months

“The paintings tell of a specific point in time when everything was destroyed, but the vibrant colours

used speak of hope from that destruction which is what we have achieved through our work in

peace and reconciliation. John Piper continued his involvement with Coventry by designing the

breathtaking Baptistry window, our vestments and kneelers.”

“The two paintings have not been seen together since the 1940s and are just stunning” continued

Mike Goldmark, from Goldmark Gallery, “The income from the sale of the limited edition prints will

raise up to £100,000 for the Cathedral which will make a significant impact on their finances in what

has been a tough time.”

The prints, of which there are limited editions of 250, will be on sale directly from the Goldmark

Gallery (www.goldmarkart.com), for £495 each or £875 as a pair.

For more information visit www.coventrycathedral.org.uk or www.goldmarkart.com or call

02476521200.

-ends-

Notes to Editors

For more information visit Goldmark Gallery’s website at www.goldmarkart.com

John Piper and his paintings of Coventry

Inserts taken from ‘John Piper: The Forties’ by David Fraser Jenkins’ to provide

background information

“Piper was painting historic ruins before any bombs fell on Britain…..These paintings of 1940-1942

were indeed one of the moments of reconciliation in British art, which Piper had believed necessary

from before the war……..the WAAC, which meant in effect its Chairman Kenneth Clark, had a

different interest in Piper, and he had asked him to record bombed churches. The blitz had at last

begun in August, with London the chief target and the effects on its buildings were disastrous.

About thirty of the London churches had been destroyed, along with large areas of the East End.

Piper had to leave his address with the officials and on the morning of 15 November, Clark sent him

a message to say that most of the city of Coventry, including the cathedral, had been set on fire by a

raid the previous night……

“… When Piper arrived there were still fires burning, with attending fire engines and ARP officials

recovering bodies. He remembered an extraordinary smell, whether from the explosives or from

what was burning.

“Despite having a job to do, Piper felt like an intruder at a private disaster, and did not like to be

seen to be drawing at such a time. He went to the cathedral as asked, and to St Mary’s Hall, but to

none of the private tragedies or to the destruction of houses and factories. At first he could not

imagine how to cope with it, but he saw some houses and factories undamaged, and one had the

brass plate of a solicitor’s office. Piper described it as a sight familiar from his youth as a trainee

lawyer.

“It was a port in a storm. I went up there and there was a girl tapping away at a typewriter, in a

seat by an upper window as if nothing had happened. I said ‘Good Morning – it’s a beastly time

isn’t it?’ and she explained that she had only just come on duty. I told her I had been ordered to do

some drawings. She said, ‘Of course, you can have my place.’ She moved her typewriter to the

other side of the room and I started drawing the cathedral.”

“…. There was an immediate need to present this disaster in a more positive light, to think of it not

in terms of the loss of life and the cost to the industry but in terms of moral defiance in the face of

an attack of a civilian city centre. Even the word ‘cathedral’ used in the role of a victim was

eloquent. Piper finished two paintings, one of which was quickly used by the Ministry of Information

as a postcard that was published by the end of November.”