Brilliant Destiny: The chequered life of Augustus John
Wednesday 9 April 2025, 6–7.30pm
Join the Friends at Kettle’s Yard for an illustrated, entertaining and insightful talk by David Boyd Haycock.
Ticket price includes a glass of wine or a soft drink.
About Augustus John
Augustus John was one of the most influential British artists of the early twentieth century. Virginia Woolf called the years immediately after 1908 ‘the age of Augustus John’, whilst his friend Percy Wyndham Lewis dubbed the ten years up to 1914 ‘the Augustan decade’. This talk explores John’s extraordinary early fame, and the possible reasons for the eventual decline in his reputation.
Click here to see a work by Augustus John in the Kettle’s Yard collection.
About Dr David Boyd Haycock
Dr. David Boyd Haycock is a Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Education, Humanities & Languages at Oxford Brookes University. He is the author of a number of books, including A Crisis of Brilliance: Five Young British Artists and the Great War (2009), and Brilliant Destiny: The Age of Augustus John (2023).
Access & Further Information
The talk will take place in the Ede Room (level 2) which is fully accessible.
All proceeds support Kettle’s Yard. Refunds are not possible, unless the visit is cancelled by Kettle’s Yard.
Should the visit become sold out, please email friends@kettlesyard.cam.ac.uk to join the waiting list.
