John Minton (artist): Difference between revisions

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'''Francis John Minton''' (25 December 1917 – 20 January 1957) was an English painter, illustrator, stage designer and teacher. After studying in [[France]], he became a teacher in [[London]], and at the same time maintained a consistently large output of works. In addition to landscapes, portraits and other paintings, some of them on an unusually large scale, he built up a reputation as an illustrator of books.

 

 

===Early years===

 

In October 1939 Minton registered as a [[conscientious objector]], but in 1941 changed his views and joined the [[Royal Pioneer Corps|Pioneer Corps]]. He was commissioned in the [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]] in 1943, but was discharged on medical grounds in the same year.<ref name=dnb/> While in the army, Minton, with Ayrton, designed the costumes and scenery for [[John Gielgud]]'s 1942 production of ''[[Macbeth]]''. The settings moved the piece from the 11th century to "the age of illuminated missals";<ref>"Macbeth", ''[[The Times]]'', 9 July 1942, p. 6</ref> ''[[The Manchester Guardian]]'' wrote that they "should be long remembered".<ref name=mg/> In the same year he and Ayrton held a joint exhibition at the [[Leicester Galleries]] in London. ''[[The Times]]'' wrote, "Mr. Minton is seen to have an overcast, gloomy realism, and much intensity of feeling, which he expresses in dark colour schemes, both in a curious and effective self-portrait and in paintings of streets and bombed buildings."<ref>"Young Artists – Exhibition at Leicester Galleries''", ''The Times'', 16 October 1942, p. 6</ref> Minton's early penchant for dark colour schemes can be seen in his 1939 ''Landscape at Les Baux'', in the [[Tate Gallery]].<ref>[http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/minton-landscape-at-les-baux-t04926 "Landscape at Les Baux"], [[Tate Gallery|Tate]] Collection, accessed 25 November 2014.</ref>

Minton's posthumous fame is principally as an illustrator.<ref name=dnb/> Many of his commissions for illustrations came from the publisher [[John Lehmann]]. Both men were homosexual, and they were so much in one another's company that some people supposed that they were partners, though the biographer [[Artemis Cooper]] thinks it unlikely.<ref>Cooper, p. 152</ref> For Lehmann, Minton illustrated ''[[A Book of Mediterranean Food]]'' and ''[[Elizabeth David bibliography#French Country Cooking (1951)|French Country Cooking]]'' (the first two books by the food writer [[Elizabeth David]]), travel books such as ''Time was Away – A Notebook in Corsica'', by [[Alan Ross]], and fiction, including ''Treasure Island'' by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]].<ref name=dnb/><ref name=MSalisbury>{{cite web |author=Martin Salisbury|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/gallery/2017/oct/21/cover-stories-beautiful-book-jacket-designs-in-pictures|title=Cover stories: beautiful book-jacket designs - in pictures |date=21 October 2017|accessdate=24 October 2017|work=The Observer}}</ref> He also produced dustwrappers for many publishers including [[Michael Joseph (publisher)|Michael Joseph]], [[Secker and Warburg]] and [[Rupert Hart-Davis]]. One such notable book jacket was for [[H. E. Bates]] ''The Country Heart'' (Michael Joseph 1949).<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Country Heart :: HE Bates|url=https://hebates.com/library/the-country-heart|access-date=2021-10-17|website=hebates.com}}</ref>

 

 

==Memorials==

 

==References==

 

==Further reading==

* {{Art UK bio}}

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[[Category:1917 births]]

[[Category:1957 suicides]]

[[Category:20th-century English painters]]

[[Category:Academics of Camberwell College of Arts]]

[[Category:Academics of the Central School of Art and Design]]

[[Category:Alumni of St John's Wood Art School]]

[[Category:English conscientious objectors]]

[[Category:English illustrators]]

[[Category:English male painters]]

[[Category:Suicides in Chelsea]]

[[Category:People educated at Reading School]]

[[Category:Royal Pioneer Corps soldiers]]

[[Category:Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers]]

[[Category:Drug-related suicides in England]]

[[Category:20th-century English male artists]]