Private
Collection
Collection
John Edgar Platt
(1886 - 1967)
A Near Miss, 1943, (preliminary sketch approved by Ministry War Transport)
Private Collection
John Edgar Platt (1886 - 1967)
Size:
Height – 31cm
Width – 46cm
Provenance: Miss Stannard;The Fine Art Society (no. 2925)
This unidentified view is one that might have been found in any of the large
industrial pre-war cities of that period – the houses, schools and churches
nestling
alongside the factories and warehouses, with the railway line,
essential for transporting freight, running alongside. Stylistically it
resembles a wood-cut, the art form in which Platt excelled, though no
printed version of this scene has been recorded.
We are grateful to Paul Atterbury and Michael Barker for assistance.
Wood engraver and painter, born at Leek, Staffordshire. He studied at the Royal College of Art, 1905-08, and went on to become principal of both Leicester College of Art and Blackheath School of Art. He won a gold medal at the International Print Makers’ Exhibition, 1922. He exhibited at the RA, NEAC, RE and with the British Council. During World War II he was an Official War Artist. His work is held by the British Museum, Imperial War Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum and the Tate. He wrote for a number of publications including The Studio and The Artist and produced several books on the art of the colour woodcut.
He worked equally successfully in oil, watercolour and wood engraving, usually confining himself to a small scale; he often worked en plein air, a method he successfully employed to respond directly to his subject. His panels are frequently annotated with notes about the weather and light conditions.
Selected Literature: Hilary Chapman, The Colour Woodcuts of John Edgar Platt, 1999.
