John Piper - The Mountains of Wales

This learning resource is designed to support teachers and other     educators who wish to engage their learners with the work of artist John Piper 1903-1992, especially his drawings and paintings of the mountains of north Wales.

The mountains of north Wales inspired Piper from the early 1940s to the mid-1950s, during which time he rented two cottages in Snowdonia. Using these as a base, he travelled around this landscape capturing the shapes, semi-abstract forms, textures and rich colours of the mountains. 

A collection of works by Piper was purchased by Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales in 2014 from a private individual with links to Wales, thanks to the generous support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Derek Williams Trust and the Art Fund.

Discover these paintings by following the quick link to the collection. You can compare several landscapes with a photograph of the same location.

Use this learning Resource to discover more about John Piper’s work. There is also an activity booklet, with creative activities for the classroom.

Guidebook Activity: The learning Resource contains an activity for creating a guidebook by children for children. Why not use the People’s Collection website to create a digital version? You can do this by creating a trail, story or collection using the digital images of the paintings and uploading your own work?

Creative activities: The activity pack and learning Resource contain several creative activities. Share them and upload them on the website. Tell us more about them by creating a story, or put them together in a collection to create a digital exhibition.

Please note that the exhibition mentioned in the resources is no longer running. You can see digital copies of all the relevant paintings by following the quick links. The images are subject to copyright, so only use within the People’s Collection website.

For more on creating digital content and help with copyright, use the Teaching Toolbox