John Piper was born in 1903 in Epsom Surrey and was an English painter, printmaker and designer. He is regarded as one of the early neo-romantic painters and a popular post-war artist. His practice encompassed the British landscape, especially churches and monuments. He lived at Fawley Bottom in Buckinghamshire near Henley-on-Thames. He was educated at Richmond School of Art and the Royal College of Art, London. Piper was an official war artist in World War II between 1940–1942, and his wartime depictions of bomb-damaged churches and landmarks, most notably those of Coventry Cathedral, made him a household name and led to his work being acquired by many public collections.