Portrait painter and illustrator. Born in Wales, he studied art in London, which continued as his principal home. In the 1920s and 1930s he made a name as a portraitist of the famous, including Shaw, Hardy, and Yeats. In late October 1930 JJ sat for John in Paris and the artist produced a number of sanguine and pencil drawings. Some of these were used as frontispieces for JJ's books, including The Joyce Book (1933), Collected Poems (1936), and Stephen Hero (1944). Though renowned for his exuberant and bohemian nature, in recent years John's reputation as a painter has been overshadowed by that of his sister, Gwen John. William Brockman
Funding
James Joyces Unpublished Letters: A Digital Edition and Text-Genetic Study.