John Piper

Skeebost, Skye

1975

In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: John Piper 1903–1992
Medium: Screenprint on paper
Dimensions: Image: 635 × 838 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Presented by Rose and Chris Prater 1976
Reference: P05406

Display caption

Most of Piper’s landscapes were in southern Britain, but he worked in the whole of Britain and Ireland. He made several working trips to Scotland, including a visit to Skye. This little farm building is in ruins, but Piper strongly opposed the repair and tidying of ruined buildings. He preferred to see them collapse and return to nature, an aesthetic principle he described as ‘pleasing decay’.

Piper sketched and photographed on the spot, but made most of his drawings in his studio in the Chilterns near Henley. Here he would assemble photographs, drawings and guidebooks around him as he drew.

Gallery label, July 2008

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