#abstractiononthebeach

A traveller's verse John Piper & Albatross Books This 1933/4 beach collage also includes an early advert for Albatross Books, possibly from the New Statesman. Albatross were a Hamburg publishing house who published English language books for the Continental market, not for sale in England. Established in 1932 they used bright modernist colours, sans-serif fonts by Stanley Morison, and amongst their first authors were Virginia Woolf, Aldous Huxley and Evelyn Waugh. Piper would I'm sure have been an early admirer and perhaps it's no accident that he included this advert into a coastal scene that looked across the Channel for inspiration. #johnpiper #albatrossbooks #collage #abstractiononthebeach #modernism

John Piper Sea, beach & the Albatross Taken from Piper's 1933 collage of Seaford Head and held by the Towner Gallery. I was drawn to the little advert for Albatross Books within the collage, the publishing house that in part inspired Allen Lane to start his Penguin Books in 1935. Not only did Lane borrow the bird like name but he also adopted the colour coding for different genres that Albatross had initiated. Later Piper and Penguin were to have a close connection with Piper illustrating a King Penguin, and his work featured in their Modern Painters series. #johnpiper @penguinukbooks #albatrossbooks #abstractiononthebeach #penguinbooks @penguincollsoc #seaford #townergallery

Littlestone-on-Sea John Piper 1936 pen and ink with collage. In the collection of Kettle’s Yard, which is now reopened. Another pilgrimage to make. #johnpiper #abstractiononthebeach #surfacepattern #lighthouse #kettlesyard #seaside

Newhaven. John Piper. Ink, watercolour,gouache & collage. Piper was a prolific artist but, of all his work then just possibly his 1930s collages of beaches and coasts might be my favourites. Lighthouses, flags, masts, what's not to like. #abstractiononthebeach #johnpiper #beaches #coasts

John Piper. Nursery Frieze, 1936. Snip from his contribution to the Contemporary Lithograph series. All the elements for a childhood seaside holiday, the pier, the lighthouse, the beach. Wonderful! #johnpiper #nurseryfrieze #beach #contemporarylithograph #modernity #midcenturymodern #abstractiononthebeach