12 Artist’s Sketch Books

Twelve artist’s sketch books bursting with an eclectic profusion of images drawn by distinguished British artist, John Gilbey Bowles, b.April 13, 1929. A strange, bizarre, colourful, multifarious and often nihilistic range of portraits, animals, landscapes and studies pour from the leaves alongside rambling social and political commentary highlighting the artist’s observations in response to the world around. Wild animals, other worldly landscapes, Karl Marx, Sid Vicious, Kokoschka, Anthony Blunt, Osama Bin Laden and Rupert the Bear among many other subjects fill every leaf. Illustrated throughout in pen, ink, colour pencils and white acrylic.

John Gilbey Bowles honed his artistic skills at the Gravesend School of Art from 1943 to 1948 before advancing to the prestigious Royal College of Art, where he studied from 1950 to 1953. He was awarded the British Institute Scholarship in Engraving cementing his place among the promising artists of his generation. Additionally, he was elected as an associate member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers. Respected among his peers, Bowles formed close friendships with some of the most influential figures in the art world, including Henry Moore, Dick Fozzard, and L.S. Lowry.