John Platt

Painter John Platt was the husband of Phyllis Platt, a painter herself. He painted, did woodcuts, and designed stained glass. Their son Michael, born in 1914, excelled as painter, potter and art teacher. John Platt initially studied engineering in Manchester before switching to art. He then studied at the Leek School of Art before going to the Royal College of Art from 1905-08. From 1913-16 he worked as an interior designer and produced mainly stained glass, tapestry designs and murals for churches. He became well-known for introducing Japanese print techniques to the European market for his posters. Considered a post-impressionist, Platt then produced posters for the London Underground and taught at art schools, first in Derby, then in Edinburgh and finally for the Blackheath School of Art in London. As an official artist to the Ministry of War Transport during World War II, he painted scenes of river traffic, maritime rescue services, ocean transport, docks and marshalling yards.

The two works submitted in 1928 and 1948, The Scrum and Rugby, were obviously the same work, only under different names. The two works titled Giant Stride are also identical. In 1948, therefore, both ran “out of competition”. All works entered in 1928 are colored woodcuts: The Giant Stride from 1918 (17 x 41 cm), Rugby Football - The Scrum from 1921 (25 x 39 cm) and The Swing - actually Snow in Springtime - from 1920 (25 x 30 cm). The persons portrayed in the two children’s prints are his younger siblings and his children.