David Jones (1895 − 1974)

Highlights

David Jones was born in Brockley, Kent, of Welsh descent. He was a poet and novelist of some distinction as well as a painter. After military service in World War I he studied at Westminster School of Art in London. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1921, and throughout his life the symbols and liturgy of the church played an important part in his art. For a time he lived with Eric Gill and his family in Ditchling in Sussex and later in Wales; he was briefly engaged to be married to Gill's daughter, Petra. His novel In Parenthesis (1937), about his experiences of the war and his poetry on the same subject brought him into prominence in the 1930s, but he suffered a nervous breakdown, and was thereafter dogged by mental illness. In 1932 he painted Curtained Outlook and the theme of looking out of one view onto another recurs frequently in his work, often as an indirect symbol of looking out of one work into another. In such scenes he included many of his primary interests - landscape, flowers, birds and animals - all bound together in a delicate tracery of pencil or pen, and pale, transparent washes. A major retrospective of his work was held at the Tate Gallery, London in 1981.

Out of the Wood: British Woodcuts and Wood Engravings 1890 - 1945, The British Council 1991

Further reading:
Nicolette Grey, The Paintings of David Jones, Lund Humphries, London 1989

Glossary

  • Landscape

    Landscape is one of the principle genres of Western art. In early paintings the landscape was a backdrop for the composition, but in the late 17th Century the appreciation of nature for its own sake began with the French and Dutch painters (from whom the term derived). Their treatment of the landscape differed: the French tried to evoke the classical landscape of ancient Greece and Rome in a highly stylised and artificial manner; the Dutch tried to paint the surrounding fields, woods and plains in a more realistic way. As a genre, landscape grew increasing popular, and by the 19th Century had moved away from a classical rendition to a more realistic view of the natural world. Two of the greatest British landscape artists of that time were John Constable and JMW Turner, whose works can be seen in the Tate collection (www.tate.org.uk). There can be no doubt that the evolution of landscape painting played a decisive role in the development of Modernism, culminating in the work of the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists . Since then its demise has often been predicted and with the rise of abstraction, landscape painting was thought to have degenerated into an amateur pursuit. However, landscape persisted in some form into high abstraction, and has been a recurrent a theme in most of the significant tendencies of the 20th Century. Now manifest in many media, landscape no longer addresses solely the depiction of topography, but encompasses issues of social, environmental and political concern.

Work Themes (4)

Past exhibitions

BLAKE'S SHADOW: WILLIAM BLAKE AND HIS ARTISTIC LEGACY

  • 2008
    • Korea, Seoul, National University Museum
    • UK, Manchester, Whitworth Art Gallery

PASTEL SOCIETY CENTENARY EXHIBITION

  • 2000
    • UK, London, Mall Galleries

DRAWING DISTINCTIONS

  • 2003
    • Poland, Lodz, Museum Sztuki
  • 2001
    • UK, Nottingham, Castle Museum And Art Gallery
    • UK, Milton Keynes, Milton Keynes Gallery
    • Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, Museum Of Fine Arts
    • Russia, Moscow, Pushkin Museum Of Fine Arts
  • 2000
    • Russia, St Petersburg, The Hermitage
    • Canada, Yukon Art Gallery
    • Canada, Prairie Art Gallery
    • Canada, Winnipeg Art Gallery
  • 1999
    • Canada, Timmins Museum And N E C
    • Canada, Arcadia University Art Gallery
  • 1998
    • Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, National Art Gallery
    • Malaysia, Penang, Penang State Museum And Art Gallery
  • 1997
    • USA, Phoenix, Arizona State University Art Museum
    • USA, Berkeley, University Art Museum

OUT OF THE WOOD

  • 1998
    • Slovakia, Kosice, State Gallery
    • Poland, Warsaw, National Museum
  • 1996
    • Philippines, Manila, Metropolitan Museum
    • Japan, Kawaguchiko Museum
    • Japan, Hokkaido, Obihiro Museum
  • 1995
    • Japan, Koriyama, Koriyama City Museum
    • Japan, Kanagawa, Kanagawa Prefectural Museum
    • Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, National Art Gallery
  • 1994
    • India, Calcutta, Centre Of International Modern Art
    • India, Santiniketan, Kala Bhavana Visva Bharati
    • India, Bhopal, Bharat Bhawan
    • India, Jaipur, Jawahar Kala Kendra
    • India, Chandigarh, The Government Museum And Art Gallery
    • Bangladesh, Delhi, Bengal Art Lounge
    • Sri Lanka, Colombo, British Council Office - Colombo
    • Sri Lanka, Kanda, British Council Office - Kanda
  • 1993
    • Australia, Newcastle, Newcastle Region Art Gallery
  • 1992
    • Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, National Gallery Of Zimbabwe In Bulawayo
    • Zimbabwe, Harare, National Gallery Of Zimbabwe
    • Kenya, Kisumu, British Council Office - Kisumu
    • Kenya, Mombassa, British Council Office - Mombassa
    • Kenya, Nairobi, British Council Office - Nairobi
    • Zambia, Lusaka, MPAPA Gallery

DAVID JONES: A MAP OF THE ARTIST'S MIND

  • 1996
    • Wales, Cardiff, National Museum Of Wales
  • 1995
    • UK, Hove, Hove Museum And Art Gallery
    • Wales, Swansea, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery

FOR A WIDER WORLD

  • 1991
    • Argentina, Buenos Aires, Museo Nacional De Bellas Artes
    • Bulgaria, Sofia, Cyril Methodius Foundation
    • Belgium, Luxembourg, Musee National D'histoire Et D'art
  • 1990
    • Ussr, Kiev, Ukrainian Museum Of Fine Art

DAVID JONES PAINTINGS, DRAWINGS, INSCRIPTIONS, PRINTS

  • 1989
    • Wales, Llandudno, Oriel Mostyn
    • UK, Cambridge, Kettle's Yard
    • UK, Leeds, Leeds City Art Gallery
    • UK, Bristol, Bristol Museum And Art Gallery

A PARADISE LOST THE NEO-ROMANTIC IMAGINATION IN BRITAIN 1935-55

  • 1987
    • UK, London, Barbican Art Gallery

JOHN PIPER AND ENGLISH NEO-ROMANTICISM

  • 1983
    • Wales, Cardiff, National Museum Of Wales
    • UK, London, Fischer Fine Art
  • 1982
    • Zimbabwe, Bulawayo, National Gallery Of Zimbabwe In Bulawayo
    • Zimbabwe, Harare, National Gallery Of Zimbabwe
    • South Africa, Grahamstown, Grahamstown
    • South Africa, Cape Town, South African National Gallery

THE BRITISH NEO-ROMANTICS 1935-1950

  • 1983
    • Wales, Cardiff, National Museum Of Wales
    • UK, London, Fischer Fine Art

BRITISH DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS FROM ROWLANDSON TO RILEY

  • 1982
    • Scotland, Edinburgh, The Royal Scottish Academy
    • Hong Kong, Hong Kong Museum Of Art
    • China, Shenyang, Shenyang Art Gallery
    • China, Beijing, China Art Gallery

DAVID JONES

  • 1981
    • Wales, Cardiff, National Museum Of Wales
    • UK, Sheffield, Graves Art Gallery
    • UK, London, Tate Gallery

CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS' LITHOGRAPHS

  • 1961
    • Kenya, Nairobi, Sorsbie Gallery
    • India, Mumbai, Jehangir Nicholson Gallery
  • 1960
    • Cyprus, Nicosia, British Council Office - Nicosia
    • Pakistan, Lahore, Alhamra Art Gallery
  • 1957
    • Spain, Gijon, Salon De Exposiciones Del Real Instituto Jovellanos
    • Spain, Oviedo, Galeria De Exposiciones De La Obra Social Y Sultural
    • Spain, Madrid, Ateneo De Madrid
    • Spain, Salon De Exposiciones De La Sociedad De Amigos Del Arte
    • Portugal, Lisbon, Secretariado Nacional Da Informacao
    • Portugal, Porto, Escola Superior De Belas Artes Do Porto
  • 1954
    • Ceylon, Colombo, Ceylon Art Gallery
  • 1952
    • Germany, Berlin, Kunst Templehof
  • 1950
    • Canada, Montreal Museum Of Fine Arts

AGUARELAS E DESENHOS INGLSES DO SECULO VINTE

  • 1955
    • Portugal, Lisbon, Secretariado Nacional Da Informacao

BRITISH DRAWINGS AND WATERCOLOURS OF THE 20TH CENTURY FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE BRITISH COUNCIL

  • 1980
    • Germany, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Stadtische Kunstammlungen
    • Germany, Weimar, Kunstammlungen
    • Germany, Leipzig, Altes Rathaus
    • Germany, Cologne, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum
  • 1978
    • Czechoslovakia, Prague, Kinsky Palace
    • Czechoslovakia, Ceske Budejovice, Ceske Budejovice
    • Slovakia, Bratislava, Slovak National Gallery
  • 1977
    • Romania, Bucharest, National Gallery
    • Germany, Berlin, Neue Berliner Galerie
  • 1976
    • Hungary, Budapest, National Gallery
    • Bulgaria, Sofia, National Gallery
  • 1975
    • France, Bourges, Maison De La Culture
  • 1974
    • Korea, Seoul, National Museum Of Contemporary Art
  • 1973
    • Japan, Tokyo, Tokyo
    • Japan, Sendai, Sendai
    • Japan, Yokohama, Yokohama
    • Japan, Nagano, Nagano
  • 1969
    • Chile, Chile
  • 1968
    • Argentina, Buenos Aires, British Council Office - Buenos Aires
  • 1966
    • Algeria, Algiers, British Council Office - Algiers
  • 1965
    • Hong Kong, Hong Kong City Hall Art Gallery
  • 1964
    • Lebanon, Sursock Museum
  • 1963
    • Gibraltar, Calpe Institute
    • Malta, Valletta, Malta Society Of Arts
  • 1962
    • Greece, Athens, Centre Of Letters And Fine Arts Of The Ministry Of Education
  • 1961
    • Finland, Finland
  • 1960
    • Austria, Vienna, British Council Office - Vienna
  • 1958
    • Belgium, Belgium
  • 1955
    • Canada, Canada
    • Portugal, Coimbra, Museu Da Nacional Machado De Castro
    • Portugal, Porto, Museu Nacional Soares Dos Reis
    • Portugal, Lisbon, Lisbon
  • 1954
    • Israel, Haifa, Museum Of Modern Art
    • Israel, Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv Museum
  • 1953
    • New Zealand, Palmerston, The Science Centre And Manawatu Museum
    • New Zealand, Wanganni
    • New Zealand, Nelson, Suter Art Gallery
    • New Zealand, Auckland, Aukland City Art Gallery
    • New Zealand, Wellington, Wellington City Art Gallery
    • New Zealand, Napier, Napier
    • New Zealand, Christchurch, Robert Mcdougall Art Gallery
    • New Zealand, Dunedin, Dunedin Public Art Gallery
  • 1952
    • Spain, Madrid, British Institute
    • Spain, Barcelona, British Institute
    • Germany, Heidelberg, Kurpfalzisches Museum
    • Germany, Mannheim, Kunsthalle
    • Germany, Konstanz, Europahaus
  • 1951
    • Germany, Dortmund, Museum Am Ostwall
    • Germany, Kunsthalle
    • Germany, Munich, Amerika Haus
    • Germany, Wiesbaden, Landesmuseum
    • Germany, Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie

DAVID JONES PAINTINGS DRAWINGS ENGRAVINGS INSCRIPTIONS

  • 1954
    • UK, London, Tate Gallery
    • Scotland, Edinburgh, The Royal Scottish Academy, Diploma Galleries
    • Wales, Swansea, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
    • Wales, Cardiff, National Museum Of Wales
    • Wales, Aberystwyth, The National Library Of Wales

INTERNATIONAL WATERCOLOUR EXHIBITION 17TH BIENNIAL

  • 1953
    • USA, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum

BRITISH ART THE LAST FIFTY YEARS 1900-1950

  • 1951
    • USA, New York, New York Public Galleries

CONTEMPORARY BRITISH ART FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF THE ARTS COUNCIL AND THE BRITISH COUNCIL

  • 1949
    • UK, London, New Burlington Galleries

CONTEMPORARY BRITISH DRAWINGS

  • 1949
    • Canada, Edmonton Art Gallery
    • Canada, Victoria, Victoria
  • 1948
    • Canada, Art Gallery Of Ontario
    • Canada, National Gallery Of Canada

CONTEMPORARY BRITISH PRINTS AND DRAWINGS FROM THE WAKEFIELD COLLECTION

  • 1950
    • Fiji, Suva, Fiji Arts Club
  • 1949
    • New Zealand, Hamilton, Waikato Museum Of Art & History
    • New Zealand, Rotorua, Society Of Arts
  • 1948
    • New Zealand, Auckland, Aukland City Art Gallery
    • New Zealand, Wellington, National Art Gallery
    • New Zealand, Napier, Napier
    • New Zealand, Wanganni
    • Australia, Brisbane, Queensland Art Gallery
    • Australia, Art Gallery Of New South Wales
  • 1947
    • Australia, Hobart, Hobart
    • Australia, Melbourne, Melbourne Royal Exhibition Building
    • Australia, Adelaide, Art Gallery Of South Australia
    • Australia, Perth, Art Gallery Of Western Australia
    • UK, London, Victoria And Albert Museum
© 2011 British Council

The United Kingdom`s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities.
A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

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