''For other people named John Platt, see John Platt.'' John Edgar Platt (19 March 1886 – 29 April 1967) was an English painter, woodcut artist and designer of stained glass. His work was part of the art competitions at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

and the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

Early life

Platt was born in Leek, Staffordshire, the son of local hotel owners. He was educated at the High School, Newcastle Under Lyme and at Margate Art School and the Leek School of Art before going to study at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

from 1905 to 1908. After graduating he worked as the head of Leek School of Art for nine years until 1919. Platt quickly developed his skills in oil painting, watercolours, woodcuts and engraved woodblocks and held his first exhibition at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in 1913. Between 1913 and 1916 he worked on the interior design of All Saints in Leek, producing stained glass, tapestry designs and murals for the church. In 1917 Platt exhibited at the International Society of Sculptors and at the Arts and Craft Society. Two of his best known prints, ''Snow in Springtime'' (1919) and ''The Giant Stride'' (1918) are from this period. Towards the end of World War I, he served in the

Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and dom ...

Teaching career

After the war Platt exhibited at the New English Art Club, for the British Council and in 1922 won a gold medal at the International Print Makers' Exhibition organised by the

California Society of Printmakers The California Society of Printmakers (CSP) is the oldest continuously operating association of printmakers and friends of printmakers in the United States. CSP is a non-profit arts organization with an international membership of print artists an ...

. As well as designing several posters for

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

, he continued to teach. Platt taught at the Harrogate School of Art throughout 1919, the Derby School of Art in 1920 and was Head of the Department of Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art between 1920 and 1923, before becoming Principal of the Leicester School of Art from 1923 until 1929, when he moved to London to become head of

Blackheath School of Art The Conservatoire (formally The Blackheath Conservatoire of Music and the Arts) is an educational charity in Blackheath, on the border of the London boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham. The Conservatoire of Music and the Arts took on its current ...

. Throughout the 1930s, whilst teaching at Blackheath, Platt produced a number of highly regarded woodcuts, prints and seascapes. He published numerous articles and the book ''Colour Woodcuts: a Book of Reproductions and a Handbook of Method'',(1938). From 1938 till 1953, Platt was the President of the Society of Graver Painters in Colour.

World War II

During World War II, a number of paintings by Platt were purchased by the War Artists' Advisory Committee and in 1943 he was awarded a full-time contract to produce paintings for the Ministry of War Transport. Over the next year he painted scenes of river traffic, the maritime rescue services, ocean transport, docks and marshalling yards. He mostly worked on and around the Thames in London from a studio in Putney, but he also visited Liverpool and Cornwall to complete his commission.

Legacy

After World War II, Platt held a single major exhibition, ''Fifty Years of the Colour Print'' at Kensington in 1947, before he retired to Eastbourne in 1950. Examples of Platts wartime work are held in the collections of both the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

and the National Maritime Museum, whilst the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

holds some of his earlier prints. Platt's ''The Port of St Tropaz'' is held by the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

. The

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York also has examples. After his death, his family donated his print-making tools to the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Platt, John Edgar 1886 births 1967 deaths 20th-century British printmakers 20th-century English male artists 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Royal College of Art British Army personnel of World War I British war artists English male painters English printmakers English watercolourists Olympic competitors in art competitions People from Leek, Staffordshire Royal Army Service Corps soldiers World War II artists