It’s always great to highlight some lesser known artists. Today I am introducing John Onley. He was a teacher, actor, art critic, printmaker and painter.
In 1967 he moved to Devon where he settled in Exmouth. For years he was member and later also president of the Exmouth Art Group. He was also a dedicated environmentalist and a lifelong humanitarian. He died there in 2014, aged 83.
Not much of his work is publicly available, but this beautiful linocut of Cathedral Close in Exeter is a lovely example of his work. It was made in 1976 in a limited edition of only 25. Even though he has portrayed here a row of Tudor buildings, the print is unequivocally from the 1970s. The technique and the choice of colours take us back to a time that seems simultaneously very recent and yet so far away. The little cars in the bottom corner including a Volkswagen campervan also remind us how much has changed in such a short time.
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