John SIMMONS (1871-1943) Three oils on canvas View From a Ri...

Hammer

£280

John SIMMONS (1871-1943) Three oils on canvas View From a Riverside, Farmstead and Rural Village Each approximatley 46 x 61cm (3) John Simmons spent the first half of his working career within his family theatrical costumier firm ‘A. J. Simmons & Sons’, alongside his father who was a tailor by trade. It was not until the business was sold in 1912 that Simmons was able to dedicate more time to his artistic talent. Although there is no record formally, it is believed that Simmons spent time at the Slade School of Fine Art and trained under the notable painter and printmaker Walter Sickert. This time gave Simmons chance to travel as well as paint, and the two soon came to support each other with Simmons making many friends amongst his contemporary artists. Within his time in London, he became an acquaintance of Augustus John, who also trained at the Slade. Whilst holidaying in Lamorna, Cornwall he often visited Samuel John Lamorna Birch who was drawn to the area by the celebrated Newlyn School. He met many other artists working in England in the early twentieth century, as well as making many friends during his long painting expeditions through continental Europe during the interwar years. John Simmons exhibited at several galleries between 1925 and 1940: the Royal Academy, the Walker Art Gallery, the Royal Society of British Artists and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters to name a few. In contrast to the notoriety of these galleries, Simmons remained a quiet artist, a slow worker whose output was rather small, but at the same time he was a painter whose artistic merit remained a constant. All of Simmons’ paintings are of the same style; sensitive in colour and accurate in form.