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John Piper
THE OLD CHURCH, DARTINGTON 
signed
pen and ink, ink wash
54 by 39.5cm.; 21¼ by 15¾in.
Executed 1943-6.
Estimate
 
8,000 — 12,000
 
GBP 
Having been impressed by a recent exhibition of John Piper's Windsor Castle drawings, Leonard Elmhirst wrote to the artist in the spring of 1943, inviting him to stay and work at Dartington. Leonard felt the arresting architecture and landscape of the place would appeal to Piper's particular sensibilities-
'I have an idea that these fourteenth century walls would give you a rather special experience ' (Leonard Elmhirst, letter to John Piper, 29th March 1943).
While much of Piper's time during the war was occupied recording the effects of German bombing on towns and cities throughout England and Wales, he took up the offer and painted at Dartington for a short period over the summer. The trip was produced a group of paintings and successful sketches. Several of these were apparently promised to the Elmhirsts to hang at Dartington, however by 1946 these were as of yet incomplete, and the Elmhirsts were desperate to have them as soon as they were possibly available:

'Many a time my husband and I have been on the point of writing you to ask about the paintings of Dartington Hall. We both realize the demands that are made upon you and the difficulty of finishing these paintings for us. But we want to beg you to let us have them as they are.....' (Dorothy Elmhirst, letter to John Piper, 25th October 1946).

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