EWART JOHNS - ARTIST
Overview
Ewart Johns (1923 – 2013)
Ewart Johns, born in 1923, in Barry, South Wales, was a practising artist until his death in 2013. From Barry to Cambridge, then London to Exeter, his love of drawing, painting and the broader Arts shaped his early life and enhanced his career at Exeter University. He combined a university career with work as a freelance artist. The combination of his interest in the practice of art with the study of design, led to his appointment in 1972 as the founding head of the Department of Visual Arts at Lancaster University. In the 1980s he moved back to Devon (Exeter and then South Brent) to concentrate fully on his own artwork. His creative life has also involved theatre production and design, writing and music, but primarily he is an artist who has shared his love of exploring line, form and colour during his teaching career, while at the same time producing a very large body of his own works. Never standing still, Ewart has explored many 20th century artistic developments, and contributed his own originality in a varied way matched by very few other artists.
Ewart Johns exhibited widely throughout Britain, he had four London shows, is represented in the Arts Council’s (Welsh) collection and had a number of public mural commissions. Amongst other locations, his paintings are in the University of Exeter’s Art Collection, several on permanent public display, and a large number of his drawings are in the archives of St John’s College, Cambridge.
A major formative influence was the teaching of Ceri Richards at Cardiff College of Art. He further developed his artistic abilities and reputation while studying geography at St John’s, Cambridge, and his academic research – chiefly at Exeter – was in Urban Design, and led to a number of publications including a book on British Townscape for Edward Arnold. The combination of his interest in landscapes, both human and physical, and the practice and study of art and design, enabled an academic career which included Urban Design and the Visual Arts. A year in the USA, 1969/70 provided the inspiration for a number of works developing the movements of the time. After retiring from Lancaster University, Ewart worked as a full time artist in Devon. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Plymouth (Dartington College of Art) on 2001. In his latter years, as his sight deteriorated, he explored other ways of expressing visual concepts, including making sculptures in wood. Ewart died in February 2013.
Chronology
1923 Born in Barry, Glamorgan
1942-3 Attended Cardiff College of Art, life drawing classes run by Ceri Richards
1944-7 Attended Cambridge University (St John’s College)
1947 Awarded 1st Class Honours Degree in Geography
1948 Attended Institute of Education, London University, awarded Diploma in Education
1948 Studied painting with Clifford Fishwick at Exeter College of Art
1948-1971 Taught in the Department of Geography, Exeter University
1965 Author/Illustrator of British Townscapes published by Edward Arnold
1972 Appointed as first Head of Department of Visual Arts, Lancaster University
1982 Retired back to Devon, worked from studio in Exeter
1995 Moved to house and studio in South Brent, Devon
2001 Awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Plymouth
2013 Died in South Brent, Devon
Summary of Retrospective Exhibitions
1974 Scott Gallery, Lancaster University
2001 Dartington College of Arts
2001 Fermoy Gallery, The Arts Centre, Kings Lynn
2007 Cube 3 Gallery, University of Plymouth
2008 Ceri Richards Gallery, Taliesin Arts Centre, University of Swansea