Portrait of Augustus John

Augustus Edwin John O.M. R.A. 1878-1961, was a Welsh born painter, draughtsman and etcher. He was the most important artist of his generation, his sister Gwen John was also an accomplished painter in her own right. Augustus John has a wealth of information throughout the internet and it would be a dis-service to attempt to cover his biography here. This painting, oil on canvas, is a mystery by way of it is painted from a photograph by the famous photographer Yousef Karsh in 1954. Karsh was prolific in photographing the most famous people of the 20th Century, John Kennedy, Winston Churchill, The Queen, etc. However the photograph would have been on a black and white glass plate, and it is virtually impossible to paint skin tone from a black and white picture, Consequently this portrait was certainly painted with Augustus John present but the self portrait attribution has been dismissed and therefore we have searched for an alternative painter, but to no avail. I must admit to thinking this is John's own hand but the dismissal was due to the color of the eyes, which should have been blue, but there are plenty of self portraits where John, in a certain light, did not paint himself with blue eyes. Also Karsh would send black and white prints to his sitters and this may have been the inspiration for John or a colleague to paint the portrait. Hence the attribution, circle of. This painting is unsigned.