John Leith Craxton RA, (3 October 1922 – 17 November 2009) was an English painter. He was sometimes called a neo-Romantic artist but he preferred to be known as a "kind of Arcadian".Obituary of John Craxton in ''The Times'' (19 November 2009).
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Biography

Career

John was the son of musician Harold Craxton and his wife Essie. His older brother Harold Antony Craxton (1918–1999) became a leading television producer and outside broadcaster.Obituary of Anthony Craxton
Miall, Leonard, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' (26 June 1999) His sister

Janet Janet may refer to: Names * Janet (given name) Surname * Charles Janet (1849–1932), French engineer, inventor and biologist, known for the Left Step periodic table * Jules Janet (1861–1945), French psychologist and psychotherapist * Maur ...

became a notable oboist. He went to Clayesmore School but left without qualifications. He applied for Chelsea School of Art but was considered to be too young to attend nude life classes. Instead he studied at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris during 1939, until the outbreak of war meant he had to complete his studies in London, at Westminster School of Art and the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School ...

. Between 1941 and 1942, having been rejected for military service on medical grounds, he attended

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...

, then toured the wilds of

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

with Graham Sutherland in 1943. His first solo exhibition was in London in 1942 at the Swiss Cottage Café, and his first major solo show at the Leicester Galleries in 1944. His work was seen as part of the neo-romantic revival, and his early pre-1945 work shows the influence of Sutherland and Samuel Palmer, and he was also heavily influenced by friend and patron Peter Watson. After the war he travelled to the Isles of Scilly, Switzerland, Istanbul, Spain, Italy, but mainly Greece especially

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, from 1946 to 1966. He moved permanently to Crete from about 1970, and switched between living in Crete and in London. The writer Richard Olney remembered Craxton in Paris, en route to Greece during the summer of 1951; :"Most nights, John Craxton, a young English painter, arrived to share my bed; we kept each other warm. He moved in a bucolic dreamworld, peopled with beautiful Greek goat herders. Soon he left for Greece." In 1951 Craxton was a ballet designer for the production of '' Daphnis et Chloé'' by the Sadler's Wells Ballet (now

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

) at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

, at a time when ballet stage design provided a haven for the neo-Romantic arts. He was able to use his first-hand experience of Greece to inform his ballet designs. He had numerous shows of his paintings in both England and Greece. A major retrospective show was held at Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1967. His later work became more formal, structured and decorative, although still expressing Romantic pastoral themes. He produced the scenery and costumes for the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

's 1968 production of

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

's ''

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

''. His work was also reproduced in magazines such as '' New Writing'', ''

Horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

'', and he has illustrated the books of Patrick Leigh Fermor. He produced lithographs for several anthologies edited by Geoffrey Grigson, including ''Visionary Poems'' (1944). He was elected Royal Academician in 1993. Craxton lived and worked in both

Chania Chania (, , ), also sometimes romanization of Greek, romanized as Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania (regional unit), Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno ...

, Crete and London. His love of Crete extended to his being one of the British

Honorary Consul A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

s there. He died aged 87, survived by his long-term partner Richard Riley. A monograph by Ian Collins about Craxton's work, ''John Craxton'', was published by Lund Humphries in 2011. The

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

in Cambridge held an exhibition of his work from December 2013 to 21 April 2014. In 2021, Ian Collins published a full biography: ''John Craxton: A Life of Gifts'' (Yale University Press); this book won the Runciman Award in 2022. Tony Britten wrote and directed the documentary film ''John Craxton - A Life Of Gifts'' in 2022.''John Craxton - A Life of Gifts'', Capriol Films, 2022
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References

External links

*
Fitzwilliam Museum on-line gallery of Craxton's work

Work by Craxton
in the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

collection;
''Royal Academy Magazine'', Spring 2007, No. 94: Interview by Sarah Greenberg.
* Some work
Offer Waterman website
* Several work
at Jonathan Clark Fine Art
* Six works at th
Tate Gallery

– ''Daily Telegraph'' obituary, 18 November 2009;
John Craxton
– ''The Times'' obituary;
John Craxton
– ''The Guardian''′s obituary by Ian Collins;

(August 2008) on John Murray by Humphrey Carpenter that mentions the recent rejection by Waterstone's of a Craxton book cover;
Obituary of Christopher Hull
in the ''Independent'' of 26 April 2007.
Brian Sewell in the ''Evening Standard'' early 2010
* Photographic portrait (1960) in th
National Portrait Gallery

"A painter’s paradise: the life of John Craxton" by Ian Collins
''Minerva'', 29 December 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Craxton, John 1922 births 2009 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English printmakers 21st-century English painters Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of Chelsea College of Arts Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Alumni of the Westminster School of Art British expatriates in Greece Artists from Crete English lithographers English male painters English gay artists English landscape artists LGBTQ people from London People educated at Clayesmore School Royal Academicians 20th-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English male artists 21st-century English male artists 20th-century British lithographers