John Piper (1903-1992)

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John Piper, was born in Epsom in 1903. Son of a wealthy solicitor, it was expected that John would work at family company Piper, Smith & Piper. But, like Brandt, he wanted to pursue a career as an artist, and this caused some problems. His father thought that becoming an artist was a ludicrous idea and threw it out and immediately set John to work in the family business.

His father's death in 1925 freed him from his obligations and Piper signed up with the Royal College of Art. He was turned down because he did not have enough experience of drawing the nude but he was finally accepted into the Royal College one year later.

Piper was then asked to join a group of artists calling themselves "The Seven and Five" That group included Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Ivon Hitchens, Frances Hodgkins, Barbara Hepworth, and Winifred Nicholson. When World War II broke out, the British Government's 'War artists scheme' in which artists were paid to paint, benfited both Piper and Henry Moore.