Augustus John: A biography

by Michael Holroyd

The archetypal rebel artist and bohemian, the painter Augustus John (1878-1961) broke free from a stifling Welsh provincial background to become as famous for his flamboyant and unruly life as for his brilliant portraiture. When the John papers became available to scholars in the 1980s, startling new information was uncovered, leading Michael Holroyd to revise his celebrated life of the artist. The result is a freshly insightful revised version of one of the definitive modern English biographies.In this new version, Holroyd recounts the complete story of John and his circle. It is a tale of three countries - Wales, England, and France - and three formidable women who helped to shape his his tragic wife, Ida, mother of five; his muse and model, the famous Dorelia; and his mysterious sister Gwen, an artist of at least equal stature who was also Rodin's mistress.

Genres: Biography, Art, Nonfiction, History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Michael Holroyd is the author of acclaimed biographies of George Bernard Shaw, the painter Augustus John, Lytton Strachey, and Ellen Terry and Henry Irving, as well as two memoirs, Basil Street Blues and Mosaic. Knighted for his services to literature, he is the president emeritus of the Royal Society of Literature and the only nonfiction writer to have been awarded the David Cohen British Prize for Literature. His previous book, A Strange Eventful History, won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography in 2009. He lives in London with his wife, the novelist Margaret Drabble.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/michae...

Reviews

[Mary Ellyn Cain]

I haven't read the updated biography. The original is an amazing portrait not only of an eccentric painter but of an entire generation or two of artists and writers whose influence extended from the countryside in England to the Slade art school to London, to the South of France, to New York.

Holroyd is a wonderful writer and a careful and unquenchable researcher who seems to be totally immersed in his subject. He has almost re-created the world surrounding Augustus John.

[Nicola Pierce]

Utterly magnificent! I will read anything by Michael Holroyd on the basis of this book. My only gripe is that I wanted lots and lots more photos and paintings but apart from that, I could not put this book down. And I was so grateful to him for giving so much of this huge story to Ida, Gwen and Dorelia. Do I like Augustus John any better after reading this? Not so much but I can't deny that his messy life provides a bloody good read!

[Darla Ebert]

A revelatory work, and very well researched. I knew that the subject was quite a rogue but had no idea just how much of an amoral person he was. His lifestyle completely overshadowed his work. It was just ok, more for the exposures of John's life than for the author's writing which was superb.

[Sue Watson]

Couldn't finish too dull

[Barbara Joan]

Quite a hard read trying to keep up with the details of this life, which was lived at full tilt. Michael Holroyd managed well to order the mass of material.

[Lizzie]

Central Casting, get me a bohemian artist. A big fat detailed biography of the artist and his life, which was very interesting (he lived for a time with two women, his wife Ida and his mistress Dorelia, and had children with both.) He was considered a major painter in the first part of the century but after WWI became somewhat more conventional in his work. It ended rather sadly, because he squandered his talent doing portraits and easy commissions, and he knew it, and was miserable about it. But he was interesting and he knew a million interesting people. I liked this a lot.

[Peter Houlihan]

very much enjoyed this can recommend it to anyone